# Huge hay barns!



## HALLSHAY (Nov 30, 2008)

A recent trip out west blew me away! Just a few pictures of some big time barns. Kind of humbling to see how big some people operate. Amazing the number of 3 string bales there are around.


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## HALLSHAY (Nov 30, 2008)

a couple more


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## cdhayman (Jan 25, 2011)

there are alot of barns in certain areas out here. we ourselves have about 16 hay barns, and most of them are twice as big these pictured above.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Our property taxes are too high in St. Joseph county Indiana for buildings like that "just" for hay. We use hoop buildings to store the hay in because they are property tax exempt the way we install them. I'm seriously considering adding yet another this summer and not selling anymore hay this winter. Prices are hovering right around $100/ton with the odd small load of little squares around $150/ton.

Even the buyers admit hay will be short next winter as they realize 100 dollar hay can't compete with 5-6 dollar corn and 14 dollar beans. Most admit with what row crops can be sold for, with the amount of labor involved $200/ton hay barely competes with row crops atm, but none of the buyers are willing to buy hay acres for the summer like the board of trade is buying corn/bean acres now.


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## HALLSHAY (Nov 30, 2008)

We are currently working on some barn additions. I will put some pictures up through the winter and spring as we are building. Our main barn when we get done will be 185x240 with a 90x110 extension that will basically tie into the roof of our 60x125 shop. We will basically have our west property boundary all tin. About 550 linear feet. 
CDHayman, what size bales do you make and what is the standard size of your barns? We are looking at building some more off site and always looking for ideas. Post some pictures!!!


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## cdhayman (Jan 25, 2011)

wow hallshay, you will end up having a real big building. I don't remember exact barn sizes, but i know some of them are around 350x400 or so. i don't have any pictures at the moment. i'm actually living in idaho for the winter. we do mostly 3-string bales. where did you see all the three string in the above pictures? we also do quite a few krone multi-bales. where at are you located in colorado?


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Aren't you guys worried about having a hay fire?I'd hate to have that much hay in one spot.Or have machinery storage connected to hay storage.

Maybe it is a HERE thing.But about every yr someone here looses a hay shed.From wet hay,faulty equipment or a spark from somwhere.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

I have flat-ground envy---I was real happy that I only had to level about 3/4 of an acre to put up a 40x60 hoop building.

Ralph


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## cdhayman (Jan 25, 2011)

well, all barns and their contents are insured. and we don't put up any wet hay.


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## Negligence (May 18, 2010)

A 350x400 hay barn? And several of them? I'm calling your bluff. Even a 100x200 building for hay storage is considered very, very large. But a 350x400? Come on


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## cdhayman (Jan 25, 2011)

well, call it what you may. granted, not all of them are that big, most are smaller, but we have alot of hay barns


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## hay hauler (Feb 6, 2010)

Some of the nabors around here have barns like that... Kind of cool to drive in with a wagon and turn around then dump. And some of them are tall enought to tripple block stack...


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Negligence said:


> A 350x400 hay barn? And several of them? I'm calling your bluff. Even a 100x200 building for hay storage is considered very, very large. But a 350x400? Come on


Clearspan manufacturers their line of buildings in a 220' x 780' hoop building.


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## JoshA (Apr 16, 2008)

Negligence said:


> A 350x400 hay barn? And several of them? I'm calling your bluff. Even a 100x200 building for hay storage is considered very, very large. But a 350x400? Come on


That was my thought as well. The guys around here think our 48*120*20 hay shed is big!

Just in one 350X400 barn I could put 21,000 big squares (3x4x9 stacked 6 high). With the 16 buildings cdlhayman says he has, even with "small" barns at say, 1,000 big squares a barn, that's basically 15,000 + 21,000 is 36,000 BIG bales. Inside. I'm not saying he's lying, I've seen some seriously huge hay barns before, but I'd really like to see pictures, and as creepy as it sounds, I'd love to visit his operation in person.

I've attached some pictures of a big set-up at Olds, Alberta. They got out of the business, so now the buildings are rented out.

-Josh

View attachment 1223
View attachment 1224


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## MikeRF (Dec 21, 2009)

Just messing with a few numbers but is it so unbelievable.
36000 bales x 1100 lbs = nearly 40 million lbs of hay. That is ONLY 8000 acres at 5000lbs per acre. 
That is unthinkable for us in the east but I thought some of these western operations run into the tens of thousands of acres. (Maybe i'm a little high on my yield per acre for western operations)
Mike


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## JoshA (Apr 16, 2008)

MikeRF said:


> Just messing with a few numbers but is it so unbelievable.
> 36000 bales x 1100 lbs = nearly 40 million lbs of hay. That is ONLY 8000 acres at 5000lbs per acre.
> That is unthinkable for us in the east but I thought some of these western operations run into the tens of thousands of acres. (Maybe i'm a little high on my yield per acre for western operations)
> Mike


Doesn't seem unbelievable to me. I was actually talking 36,000 bales at 1,600lbs a piece (3x4 bales since that's what i'm most familiar with). That's 57.6 million lbs. Divided by even 5,000lbs/acre is 11,520 acres. Divided by 6 cuttings a year is 1,920 acres total land base. Doesn't seem that impossible to me!

Now, I'd rather not create our own numbers from our imagination, I just wanted to prove it's not impossible. I'd rather give cdlhayman the benefit of the doubt. If he wishes to disclose some details I'd be thrilled to hear it, sounds like a pretty slick set-up!

-Josh


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

JoshA said:


> Doesn't seem unbelievable to me. I was actually talking 36,000 bales at 1,600lbs a piece (3x4 bales since that's what i'm most familiar with). That's 57.6 million lbs. Divided by even 5,000lbs/acre is 11,520 acres. Divided by 6 cuttings a year is 1,920 acres total land base. Doesn't seem that impossible to me!
> 
> Now, I'd rather not create our own numbers from our imagination, I just wanted to prove it's not impossible. I'd rather give cdlhayman the benefit of the doubt. If he wishes to disclose some details I'd be thrilled to hear it, sounds like a pretty slick set-up!
> 
> -Josh


Josh

I think you better refigure that.









Or I need to move to Canada to grow hay.









5000 lbs X 6 cuttings=30,000 lbs or 15 ton an acre per yr.

Cy


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## JoshA (Apr 16, 2008)

swmnhay said:


> Josh
> 
> I think you better refigure that.
> 
> ...


I was going with MikeRF's number of 5000lbs/acre, I know we're lucky to get 3,000lbs/acre here, but that's dryland. Up here we get 1.5 cuts a year.

-Josh


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

JoshA said:


> I was going with MikeRF's number of 5000lbs/acre, I know we're lucky to get 3,000lbs/acre here, but that's dryland. Up here we get 1.5 cuts a year.
> 
> -Josh


Oh ok I see.But I don't think its possible anywhere to get that kind of yield per yr.Had a buddy that was in Arizona for awhile and got a job cutting hay.8 cuttings a yr under irigation.Not sure what the yld was there.


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## haystax (Jul 24, 2010)

I think the typical yield in So Cal irrigated cut on a 28-30 day schedule is around .75 to 1 ton per acre. Northern CA and most of Nevada are around 1.5 to 2 ton per acre but only a 3-4 cutting year. Idaho and Oregon about the same. Our average yearly tonnage is around 6ton/acre with a lot depending on weather and growing conditions for our short season.

Most barns here look a lot like the OP's pictures, although more older wood framed barns than newer steel barns. Typical size are 50x150 for wood and 100x150 for steel.

Any bigger and the watershed and lot sorting becomes an issue. For retail hay in 3 strings, 3barns for 2 circles is the norm. Our barns hold 10,200 100# 3-string bales in squeeze blocks or up to 1050 3x4 big bales.

I am curious to the exact location of the OP pics???


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

Creech out side of Lexington, KY may be that large. It really is a warehouse not a hay barn.


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## MikeRF (Dec 21, 2009)

JoshA said:


> Doesn't seem unbelievable to me. I was actually talking 36,000 bales at 1,600lbs a piece (3x4 bales since that's what i'm most familiar with). That's 57.6 million lbs. Divided by even 5,000lbs/acre is 11,520 acres. Divided by 6 cuttings a year is 1,920 acres total land base. Doesn't seem that impossible to me!
> 
> Now, I'd rather not create our own numbers from our imagination, I just wanted to prove it's not impossible. I'd rather give cdlhayman the benefit of the doubt. If he wishes to disclose some details I'd be thrilled to hear it, sounds like a pretty slick set-up!
> 
> -Josh


My apologies but I had meant that 5000 lbs as an annual yield, not per cut. I was always under the impression that arid climate/western yields were less than the 3 to 5 ton per acre that we get here each year. By some of these posts sounds like I was wrong.
The largest hay operation I have heard of runs 36,000 acres in Alberta. Makes our 400 seem a bit insignificant!!


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