# New to growing hay



## FrankieS (May 28, 2014)

Hi everybody, this is my first post here but hopefully not my last. My father is looking to retire and I would really like to put together a horse farm (ranch? I honestly don't know the difference) for him to retire on. He had one when we lived back east but got rid of it when we moved. I was raised in the city, so I have little to no knowledge of anything farm related. I'm trying to put this together secretly to surprise him with it, so I am on my own with all this. I'm thinking maybe 50-100 acres. I'd like to be able to grow enough hay to feed our horses (10 horses max) and maybe sell the rest to sustain the farm. I am doing some research on my own on growing alfalfa right now but I figured asking those who know couldn't hurt. I guess my biggest question would be, is equipment NEEDED or could I pay someone to cut/bale the hay. I think I remember my dad saying some people do it for a share of the bales, is that a viable option? Do I need equipment to plant the seeds? Any other advice or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

If you are in Nevada you most likely need also to be thinking irrigation water with the land you buy.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I would hire everything done in the beginning....tillage, planting, harvesting....everything....just to make sure this enterprise is really long term. Equipment is very expensive in this day.

Regards, Mike


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## FrankieS (May 28, 2014)

I figured I would try to find some land with the irrigation alreadly on it. Any idea what it would cost would be the first year for say, 50 acres hay. Assuming I pay someone to do everything and the land already has irrigation.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

If you know the general area where you want to buy then I would probably call the local Ag Extension office and get an idea how things work in that particular area.

Prices can vary a lot with in a state depending on the population and area.


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## FrankieS (May 28, 2014)

I am looking for something in Nevada,Utah or Arizona also, I forgot to mention that.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Does your dad really want to have a 50-100 acre farm? And all the work that goes along with growing hay. Happy retirement dad! Here's a lot of work for you! Hope you like it.  He probably never had to irrigate his farm in the east.


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## FrankieS (May 28, 2014)

Well we had a little over 100 acres back east and I'm kinda trying to recreate the farm for him. I figured 50-100 acres of hay would be enough to sustain the farm and feed the horses. But maybe I'm wrong.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

FrankieS said:


> Well we had a little over 100 acres back east and I'm kinda trying to recreate the farm for him. I figured 50-100 acres of hay would be enough to sustain the farm and feed the horses. But maybe I'm wrong.


No it's quite enough with adequate irrigation water and with a center pivot not to hard to irrigate, but in those areas you are going to be looking for land he most likely would really have to irrigate and not much self sustaining pasture for the horses like in the east.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Welcome. Nice thing you want to do for your dad. Hope you can get worked out what will be very satisfying for you, your dad and other family. Agree with the other posts, the land and equipment are going to be major capital expenditures, time consuming to locate, bargain, etc. Also, for most folks raising hay, there are additional laborers needed (maybe you?).

I'm fairly comfortable with how we do hay in our location in Kentucky but honestly I'd be overwhelmed starting out in a different geographical area. After being on HayTalk, I've learned it is literally night and day difference in getting hay put up in good condition, and for horse hay that is even more of an issue. You would know whether your dad would enjoy that challenge. Also, is he current on farming practices? While the concept of making hay hasn't changed, a lot of what is available has.

To be very candid, when we retire - which would be from active hay production - I'd probably write my child out of the will if they presented me with a farm . Hope you've discussed this enough with your dad to know that he will be pleasantly surprised and appreciative of all that you will be doing to bring it about. You will be able to get a lot of help from this site.

Shelia


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

I am with RockyHill on this. I would be a fish out of water trying to adapt to hay farming with irrigation and alfalfa. Just learning the terminology has been an education for me. Many things I have taken as a given do not work in the more arid areas. I enjoy looking at the large level fields and the different irrigation systems. Still it is overwhelming to me. The water/irrigation process scares me. I am not sure how stable that is or how much it costs. Here we depend on rain.

I am impressed with what you are doing. Just the consideration you have for looking into it says a lot about you and the man your father is. I hope you can make it work.

If you find a decent place to buy I feel sure you could do hay on shares and get enough to feed some horses.


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## FrankieS (May 28, 2014)

Aha What I have envisioned is him living there and getting to play with his hores and what not. Myself and maybe some hired help would do the grunt work haha.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

FrankieS said:


> Aha What I have envisioned is him living there and getting to play with his hores and what not. Myself and maybe some hired help would do the grunt work haha.


If I did hay on shares I would want them to make large square bales. Then buy a small tractor to move and store them. Grunting is good for the soul but soon gets old.

It is less money to have a custom operation do the work. They have the machinery and probably do a thousand acres already. The draw back to that is they usually do their hay when it is prime and do the share jobs when they can.

Making money in hay can be a challenge. It looks good on paper and from the road. It is a lot more fun when the weather and equipment cooperate.


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