# Price



## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

How much more do you charge if you stack the hay in your barn opposed to if your customer picks up off the field.

I charged $3 per off the field and $3.50 per anything that makes it to my barn. Just looking for how much more you charge if you stack in your barn.


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## bool (Mar 14, 2016)

Both prices sound too cheap to me. Can you grow grass, cut it, rake it and bale it for $3? Can you pick up a bale, cart it to the barn and stack it for 50c? I doubt it. I charge $5 per bale in the barn for small quantities, and that's "mate's rates". I would suggest $1 extra in the barn over the "behind the baler" field price.

Roger


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Too Cheap Pony. What do your area folks get....check on CL.

Regards, Mike


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## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

I'm seeing a lot of $3 hay... Some $4 and a few $5. I don't think $3 is enough in hindsight. I think that people who complain about hay prices should try and do it themselves and see what they would charge. It was easier to sell $3 grass hay but I'm thinking $4 off the field and $4.50 out of the barn. But obviously things change from year to year. This was a huge learning experience for me.


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## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

I'm not bragging but I drove tractor pulling the wagon solo... And picked up stacked and re stacked in the barn 135 bales. I'm sore. I don't know if that was worth . 50 per bale lol


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

a lot depends on the quality of the hay. Hay made properly from fields well managed is worth a lot more and will typically bring more. Not sure what quality you ended up-didn't you bushhog then cut etc, if i am remembering correctly, that hay is likely to have had a bunch of what i refer to as trash in it. Next time you cut starting with a "clean" field now and adding fertilizer as needed, cutting at the right time yada, yada, your hay should be worth a lot more.

The old adage here is you add .50 to a bale every time you touch it. So you pick it up, unload, and stack in barn, unstack and load on a truck and trailer, then unload and stack in their barn-4 touches, 2$ a bale.

I sell my hay for 6$ at my barn or on the wagon in the shed and I will tow my wagon to a customers location within 10 miles but won't unload. I am 68 in good health and want to stay that way for a while. Mostly what I put in the barn is partial wagon loads from each batch, ends up with about 1200 in the barn for the winter. I have customers that come in dribbles and dabs and I will probably load and deliver several trailer loads (210 bales) for select customers during the winter.


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## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

I did butcher the side field with a brush hog. It'll actually be ready to cut again in a couple weeks. That's how high I cut with the brush hog. The back field was cut by a neighbor with a mower conditioner it was actually cut properly. It is largely OG with patches of Clover. It does have weeds some areas more some none at all. I think over time I can work it into a better product. This was the first year I baled it. It was seeded just last year. I was happy with how it turned out. Good color, smelled fresh, and the bales were tight. My customer wants more next year.


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## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

I yielded 300 bales off 3.7 acre field.


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Here a touch, there a touch, everywhere a touch touch..... me likey big rounds LOL.... 

Been following along with yer escapade this summer... well done... bet ya learned a lot also, with a good finish this year you will have time to prepare for next year... hopefully a little smoother...


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

MDP,

Too cheap at $3, but you could use that as a come on price where you sign says "Hay starting at $3 a bale", then you can be like the big box store. "Sorry, the $3 hay is all gone, you should look at our fine $5 hay, marked down to $4.50, just for you today only!" Just remember to put a asterisk on your price, with extra fine print qualities limited, some where.

Maybe for your bush hogged hay, $3, but not for your hired cut hay. Just look at what you paid to get it cut, say $60, that's 20 cents a bale, alone.

But lastly, by the bale is variable. Based upon, different size bales, density, etc. By the ton is a different story. As an example, you could buy 50 bales at $4.50 or 50 bales at $5, a lot of people will buy the $4.50 hay. Let's throw in the bale weights of 35# and 45#, respectfully, Now you are talking $257 a ton and $222 a ton, who was smarter?

Larry


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## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

I think I like $4 off the field and $5 out of the barn. In my area I have a lot of small timers like me. They are willing to sell at $3 per bale. It might take me a little longer to sell it at $4 which means I have to sit on it. I have a barn I can use to store hay but it's a family members barn. I prefer to not store hay long term in it. But with expenses such as gas, parts, and time... I need to make this worth it or else my wife will skin me alive! I'm already having trouble making ends meet with $3 per bale. Anyways I'm hoping to hay my small side field one more time this year. It is still pretty long since I only brush hogged it. I'll probably yield 60-70 bales off of it. I got 60 from the brush hog cutting alone. After that I'll starting cleaning up the equipment and prepping for winter storage. Then the fun comes with working on this sickle bar over fall/winter.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

MDP,

If your market is $3, ugh. But then again, what is the quality? You will learn and will teach others (your customers), the difference. If you have clean hay (no junk, old stuff and weeds), and the 'critter's eat all of it, the customers will come back. If you sell junk and the critters don't eat all of it, your customer will look elsewhere. Remember they most likely were someone else's customer first.

Even if you don't get another cutting, cutting what grows in the bush hog field down, will help it decompose over the winter (making your hay 'cleaner' next year). IMHO You could 'burn' it in the spring also, but I believe that is 'frowned on' now days. I remember the railroad fires and how quick and clean the grass would grow back in the spring, seemed like almost overnight green.

Larry


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## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

I noticed that since the back field was cut on Saturday it's already growing a lot! I mean I think he cut it pretty short but I don't know what's normal. I would guess that cutting it would stimulate it to grow to some degree. The back field is definitely done for the season. How long should an OG hay field be going into winter? I don't want it to short so it doesn't survive winter and I'm guessing to long it would lay down and be matted in the spring.


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## weatherman (Dec 5, 2008)

Price varies by region, availability, ect. I see cheap hay on craigslist for Miami Valley market as low as $3/bale for grass hay and $3.50 for alfalfa/grass. When I mention this to my best critic she always tells me you don't know the quality. I have been selling first cut at $5/bale out of the barn. I only had a few customers who bought out of the field. When they did I knocked off $.40/bale. I probably haven't sold out of the field for couple years. Each subsequent cut gets marked up $.50/bale unless it's 4th cut which is now selling for $8/bale. BTW, these are not winter prices which everything gets marked up $1/bale.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

MyDaughtersPony said:


> How long should an OG hay field be going into winter? I don't want it to short so it doesn't survive winter and I'm guessing to long it would lay down and be matted in the spring.


Pony,

I do not think I have every seen a requirement for OG regrowth requirement to survive a winter. Alfalfa, is a different beast, needing 450-500 GDD before a hard freeze (average temp above 41 degrees, for a growth degree day).

Maybe someone else on HT, has some info on OG regrowth requirements and can enlighten us.

The biggest problem with making hay in Michigan, during late Sep or Oct, is the dew. It doesn't burn off until sometimes 2 in the afternoon, then comes back at 6 or so. Four hours of curing time, per day, is a slow.................... numerous day process, hard not to get a rain storm during this time.

Larry


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

We were + 50 cents out of the barn back in 1980. Barn price now would be at least a dollar.

I have followed your progress and you have done well.

It is nice to have people wanting your product. It is nice to add a little jingle in your pocket. It is better to have a little more folding money.

You mentioned your wife helping. Women are the worlds best as not coming off of a set price. When people ask if you can take less for the hay, send them to your wife. Women will tell them point blank that the price is $XX.


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## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

Funny you say that. My wife is brutal on price  selling another 100 bales @ $3.50 this weekend. Definitely going to up charge $1 next year for barn hay.


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## rankrank1 (Mar 30, 2009)

My 2 cents is do not set your price so high that your hay then becomes a slow seller. A little less jingle in your pocket is simply one of the sacrifices you have to make when you lack your own "already paid for" barn you can tie up indefintely.

I sell my hay cheaper than normal because I also lack a quality storage location of my own also. Sure I could spend $20k to $30k to build a really nice barn (now my property taxes go up too every year). With my own big barn I could then hold out for that extra 0.50 to 0.75 a bale but that peasly extra amount of money on a small time hay operation will not come close to paying the payment on the barn nor even the increase in my taxes so I have now made less money profit. In my case I would be in the red ink badly.

Now the peasily extra would be significant for the farmer covering big time acres but I already have a full time real job with all the overtime requirements it mandates so I not looking to expand my hay operation any more than I currently have. Even if I did look to expand then I now gotta upgrade the antiques I operating with so a never ending cycle of no money made this can be. Remember you already donating all your time for free to realize what little profit you are getting. Imagine if you were paying someone say $10 hour for all that you are doing and wait till the $100 for a little part that breaks kicks in and parts do break on the all equipment - old or new. I purposely keep my operation at its current level of acres so I can operate all by myself if need be (driving help from wife is gravey). Go bigger and now you need to hire help, buy bigger fancier equipment - and pretty soon everyone else is making some money except you.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Hayman1 said:


> a lot depends on the quality of the hay. Hay made properly from fields well managed is worth a lot more and will typically bring more. Not sure what quality you ended up-didn't you bushhog then cut etc, if i am remembering correctly, that hay is likely to have had a bunch of what i refer to as trash in it. Next time you cut starting with a "clean" field now and adding fertilizer as needed, cutting at the right time yada, yada, your hay should be worth a lot more.
> 
> The old adage here is you add .50 to a bale every time you touch it. So you pick it up, unload, and stack in barn, unstack and load on a truck and trailer, then unload and stack in their barn-4 touches, 2$ a bale.
> 
> I sell my hay for 6$ at my barn or on the wagon in the shed and I will tow my wagon to a customers location within 10 miles but won't unload. I am 68 in good health and want to stay that way for a while. Mostly what I put in the barn is partial wagon loads from each batch, ends up with about 1200 in the barn for the winter. I have customers that come in dribbles and dabs and I will probably load and deliver several trailer loads (210 bales) for select customers during the winter.


While I agree that it should go up with handling, I disagree that each touch should get it to an extra $2. Choosing to do something the Amish way doesn't make it inherently more valuable.

...

As to the price, unless we've all seen it in person and compared it to other hay selling in the same locale, it's darn near impossible to judge what the price should be. Hay price is market driven and quality is ultra important. Granted, I wouldn't want to be selling any of MY hay at $3.50 out of the barn but that's not my market. On the other hand, $3 for a bushogged experiment in hay making plopped in the field probably isn't crazy and, honestly, is probably good money for what it is. After all, half of MDP's posts have been about his bales having little hay in them.

If you decide to open a pie stand and your first run of pies that you hoped to be worth $10 come out half filled, crooked, and occasionally over baked, you price them at what people are willing to give regardless of the time you had to put in.


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## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

The bales off the back field are substantially better than the brush hogged field. I kept those bales. The back field was mowed with a mower conditioner. The bales are dense and tight.


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

I see small sq going for 3-6$ around here... I feed horses myself but in no way baby them with hay.. I feed rolls in a round feeder free choice.. I just don't understand using the small sq and giving them a bite a few times a day... just toooo much work all around and I don't have that much time to spend on feeding hay....

Some time I would like to unroll one of my rolls and see how many small squares one would make.... we sit on quality rolls here and TRY and get 30$ a roll....

Different strokes for different folks me thinks....


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Here, I would not square bale hay if I could not get at least $4 for anything that was usable as feed. If it was that low of quality that I could not get $4, I would round bale it....it's just not worth the effort to square anything for less than $4 for me.

Pony will learn more about growing quality forage with time and learn that it is very costly when you start buying seed and amendments.....and the real value of hand labor. With that knowledge comes the ability to quickly learn the fair market value of your product.

Regards, Mike


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

I think a lot of people don't have any equipment and the only bales that work for them are ones they can pick up with their bare hands. Small Bales are definitely becoming more of a niche market. Small Bales pay better but in our area just about all the livestock people have completely abandon them


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

endrow said:


> I think a lot of people don't have any equipment and the only bales that work for them are ones they can pick up with their bare hands. Small Bales are definitely becoming more of a niche market. Small Bales pay better but in our area just about all the livestock people have completely abandon them


Also, as one who has worked a lot with competition horses, you can't feed them all the same way. Each one has a specific diet that addresses their specific needs. They are in stalls at least half a day. For folks in this type of business sm sqs make sense with some rounds in paddocks in the dead of winter


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

Vol said:


> Here, I would not square bale hay if I could not get at least $4 for anything that was usable as feed. If it was that low of quality that I could not get $4, I would round bale it....it's just not worth the effort to square anything for less than $4 for me.
> 
> Pony will learn more about growing quality forage with time and learn that it is very costly when you start buying seed and amendments.....and the real value of hand labor. With that knowledge comes the ability to quickly learn the fair market value of your product.
> 
> Regards, Mike


The part that get me is the total lack of appreciation of physical labor that goes into making a square bales of hay - especially in our hay operation, where the nearest thing to automation is an extended bale chute to put a bale closer to the stacker on the wagon.

I haven't done it yet, but - thought about selling some hay at the low baller's price, but they get to help get it up. Not just their share, but in exchange for the low price, they get to help get all of the hay up and stacked in the barn. I would almost GIVE them some hay just to get them in the hayfield. From the tractor's seat, it would be a GREAT time to finally find out the max capacity of the JD348 baler.... 

There's a saying in Texas, "All hat - no cattle." I doubt anyone of the low baller's would take me up on making CHEAP hay.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

SCtrailrider said:


> Some time I would like to unroll one of my rolls and see how many small squares one would make.... we sit on quality rolls here and TRY and get 30$ a roll....


To save your time of unrolling/baling, just weigh your RB, divide the weight by 45-50 (what ever YOUR square bales weigh) and you will have a pretty good idea of the number of square bales to round bale you would have.

For reference a 14x18x36 inch square bale is about 5.25 cubic foot per bale and a 47.5 inch x 60 inch round bale about 77.75 cubic feet per bale. Example: 1000# round bale, divide by 47# (average square bale weigh), would equal approximately 21.25 square bales per round bale.

Larry


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Well Larry, guess that could be done a bit easier lol....

And just using your numbers I can't sell a roll for half that price !!!

21 sq's X 3$ = 63$

I can't get 30 around here... everyone want's to pay 20-25 for good hay... glad I don't sell much...


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

A friend of mine who's 10 years older says the milk markets are worse than what he has ever seen. I can agree with that and I also say the hay markets in our area are lower than I have ever seen.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

endrow said:


> A friend of mine who's 10 years older says the milk markets are worse than what he has ever seen. I can agree with that and I also say the hay markets in our area are lower than I have ever seen.


I cannot speak at all towards the Dairy end, but the retail square bale market is holding steady as in years past here. I have sold little squares in the last 45 days from $240 to $300 per ton. We have had a lot of drought here in the Southeast so that always helps. And as always, anytime you have a Presidential election year the prices can be somewhat subdued.

Regards, Mike


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

The square bale is for the serious horsey hay buyer......they feed each flake and they want to know what they are feeding and how much they are feeding. My squares don't leave the barn for less than $7 and that's my price, period. I have some customers that buy a little less but they buy 1000's of bales a year. Most bales are delivered and the additional delivery charge is factored into the per bale price. These customers want a "turn key" price, in most cases they will have their own labor to unload, but not always and that has to be factored as well......that's unusual, delivery is standard operating procedure it seems nowadays.....you won't find many serious horsey folks buying rounds here.....
At the end of the day, it doesn't cost much more to feed 250tn hay vs 120tn hay, if you feed 250tn by sq and 120tn by rolls....may be cheaper!


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Vol said:


> I cannot speak at all towards the Dairy end, but the retail square bale market is holding steady as in years past here. I have sold little squares in the last 45 days from $240 to $300 per ton. We have had a lot of drought here in the Southeast so that always helps. And as always, anytime you have a Presidential election year the prices can be somewhat subdued.
> 
> Regards, Mike


 Same thing here.....quality small squares are always in high demand and the price doesn't fluctuate too much. I'm $300 a ton on alfalfa and $245 on grass and oat hay.


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## Orchard6 (Apr 30, 2014)

Boy I wish I had customers that would pay $7-8 per bale! If I priced even the very best top quality hay at $8 I think one cutting would take a lifetime to sell at that price here!
I usually get $3 out of the field and $4 out of the barn for my orchard grass. I tried getting $5 one year for some very good looking 2nd cutting and it sat way longer than I wanted (like all winter) and I ended up selling it for $4 just so I had room for the next crop. It's funny how at $5 I never got a single call but at $4 I sold 300 bales to one guy in one day. There is too much cheap hay in our area!


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

SCtrailrider said:


> Well Larry, guess that could be done a bit easier lol....
> 
> And just using your numbers I can't sell a roll for half that price !!!
> 
> ...


Well SC, therein lies the rub. I have yet to see anyone that can approach the revenue return on sqs with rounds. Half price is pretty normal. I think it's the legacy of the start of round baling where so much crappy hay was rolled. Still a lot and people got used to cheap rbs.

Now if high schoolers would pitch hay, we wouldn't have a problem. However, they won't and managing sqs is a struggle.


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

somedevildawg said:


> The square bale is for the serious horsey hay buyer......they feed each flake and they want to know what they are feeding and how much they are feeding. My squares don't leave the barn for less than $7 and that's my price, period. I have some customers that buy a little less but they buy 1000's of bales a year. Most bales are delivered and the additional delivery charge is factored into the per bale price. These customers want a "turn key" price, in most cases they will have their own labor to unload, but not always and that has to be factored as well......that's unusual, delivery is standard operating procedure it seems nowadays.....you won't find many serious horsey folks buying rounds here.....
> At the end of the day, it doesn't cost much more to feed 250tn hay vs 120tn hay, if you feed 250tn by sq and 120tn by rolls....may be cheaper!


Am I reading this right? $7 per bale including delivery or is that extra?


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Hayman1 said:


> Well SC, therein lies the rub. I have yet to see anyone that can approach the revenue return on sqs with rounds. Half price is pretty normal. I think it's the legacy of the start of round baling where so much crappy hay was rolled. Still a lot and people got used to cheap rbs.
> 
> Now if high schoolers would pitch hay, we wouldn't have a problem. However, they won't and managing sqs is a struggle.


Yes your right and I do see that.. Their are hay sellers around here that will roll anything up and sell it... The farm up the road is a prim example, they bush hog 100ac every other year and roll the same crap the other year, this is the year they are rolling the stuff, 2 year growth of sumac and everything else and they want 35$ a roll ...

I only have 2 money customers that take all the rolls I make on a 35ac field a few miles away from me.. both have cows & horses and they have both come around to the savings of rounds WITH the right feeder.... I showed the horse lady a trick to make a "slow feed" net to cover the rolls with that makes the cows & horses work more to get the hay and keep them from tossing it around, saves a lot of hay...

At least my buyers can see the field before it's cut and they know what they are getting with my rolls... but others I feel they are not as sure just what all is in the roll....


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

leeave96 said:


> Am I reading this right? $7 per bale including delivery or is that extra?


Sorry, additional.......$7 out of the barn


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Orchard6 said:


> Boy I wish I had customers that would pay $7-8 per bale! If I priced even the very best top quality hay at $8 I think one cutting would take a lifetime to sell at that price here!
> I usually get $3 out of the field and $4 out of the barn for my orchard grass. I tried getting $5 one year for some very good looking 2nd cutting and it sat way longer than I wanted (like all winter) and I ended up selling it for $4 just so I had room for the next crop. It's funny how at $5 I never got a single call but at $4 I sold 300 bales to one guy in one day. There is too much cheap hay in our area!


I couldn't sell it that cheap here, I'd be broke in a year.....with the inputs we see, I have $3 in the bale. So in essence, I'm selling them for $4, still have to back out the cost of baling and storage......ain't gettin rich but able to make a dollar.....with rounds, I'm doing good to break even over the course of the season....


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

I square baled enough to feed all my critters, dad's critters, and have a couple thousand squares to sell. I came across @100 round bales (39'x46') today that I'm going to buy so I can sell more of the squares that I baled.

Depending on the hay, I get anywhere from 3.25-4.50 per bale for squares, but cheaper hay can be had. I would expect that the quality is worse, but the hundred bales I bought today are the landowner's 1/2 from a field of hers. I happened to be there to pick up a GN trailer and she said I could have all I wanted for $5 per bale.

Yup...$5 per bale for 39x46 bales. Don't get me wrong, it's not alfalfa, but it is a hayfield that gets baled 2x or 3x per year...not full of noxious weeds and has good color.

Oh to live where hay is worth something!! 

73, Mark


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Is that a 4 foot wide round that is 39" tall?


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

somedevildawg said:


> Is that a 4 foot wide round that is 39" tall?


I don't know what kind of baler baled it and I coulda not held the tape exactly, but I came up with @39" wide and @ 46" tall??? It wouldn't take too much to convince me that I measured wrong as they were all stacked end to end, but I think that's what they were.

73, Mark


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## Shetland Sheepdog (Mar 31, 2011)

Dimensions sound right for bales put up with a Hesston 5530 or 530 Rounder, or similar!

Pictures are of a 5530 and the bales it makes. The JD 2010 ran it just fine. Great round baler for a low HP tractor. 1 of those bales is probably equivalent to 7 to 8 small squares.
Dave


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Orchard6 said:


> Boy I wish I had customers that would pay $7-8 per bale! If I priced even the very best top quality hay at $8 I think one cutting would take a lifetime to sell at that price here!
> I usually get $3 out of the field and $4 out of the barn for my orchard grass. I tried getting $5 one year for some very good looking 2nd cutting and it sat way longer than I wanted (like all winter) and I ended up selling it for $4 just so I had room for the next crop. It's funny how at $5 I never got a single call but at $4 I sold 300 bales to one guy in one day. There is too much cheap hay in our area!


Gotta, agree with Ochard, I would love to get even $6 out of the barn, let alone $7!! I sell my 5x5s way to cheap, but with the market being cheap................

Have a local neighbor that, cut their first cutting OC in mid May, OG had not even started to boot yet (very little alfalfa, you can count the plants driving by), let it lay, so they could take 2nd cutting 'earlier'. Normally, in my area the last week of May is early to be cutting, alfalfa is just starting to bud, (we start planting corn the 1st of May sometimes) for a timeline sense. The got a 'huge' second cutting they could sell for more. They said the yield was 'outstanding', they never got that many bales BEFORE of 2nd cutting. BUT, they were able to sell it for 2nd cutting price. 

Larry


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## Coondle (Aug 28, 2013)

Just capitalised on having good storage.

This season I started selling my lower quality hay for $5 from the shed and best for $8 each.

Add $2 per bale for delivery out to about 100 km (60 miles).

Then after winter hit here (June) the price went up by $2 per bale except for regular long term customers.

Just delivered the last 10 bundles at $13 per bale and other people clamouring for more. Sadly none left, but happy with the rising price.


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## MyDaughtersPony (Jun 12, 2016)

I think it might be fun to have a big hay barn and horde it all until November... However I feel that is risky and if you have no buyers you'll be stuck with a bunch of the previous year hay which in turn would sell for less...


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## GNA_farm (Jul 21, 2014)

Even that though is not necessarily the case if weather is a factor... I focused pretty heavy on sm squares last year when I could so I had a few hundred small squares left from last year that were all put up right and stored in my barn, still green and good looking. Last year was very tough to put up dry hay and this year wasn't much better. There seems to be a shortage of small squares by me, I had my last year hay listed cheap earlier this year and was actually able to increase price due to quality and lack of supply. I'm getting as much for them right now as I did last fall since no one had time to put up quality squares this summer in my area. Not the norm, but seemed to work out OK for me this year...


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

MyDaughtersPony said:


> I think it might be fun to have a big hay barn and horde it all until November... However I feel that is risky and if you have no buyers you'll be stuck with a bunch of the previous year hay which in turn would sell for less...


I will quote Mike on this one



Vol said:


> Patience is a bitter cup and only the strong can drink.
> 
> Regards, Mike


73, Mark


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## Beav (Feb 14, 2016)

Depends on my supply and what the local market is. We sell first cutting grass off the rack for $4.50 and out of the barn for $5.Second and third cutting for $5.50 off the rack and $6.00 out the barn. Delivery is always a crap shoot but most of the time add $1 to $2 a bale.I always am willing to help out long time customers with credit and price. 4X5 rounds $40 to $60 each net wrapped stored inside picked up, I hold hay for long time customers but you can only mess up once then they are cash and carry.This year I have more in the barn left to sell then normal so may have to get creative, I have one customer that I always price $1 more then I really want because he always wants it for less and it makes feel like he wins


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

MyDaughtersPony said:


> I think it might be fun to have a big hay barn and horde it all until November... However I feel that is risky and if you have no buyers you'll be stuck with a bunch of the previous year hay which in turn would sell for less...


 Here not much hay is sold until December, January, Febuary, and March. To get the best price for your hay storage is essential. In winter when everything is brown or in your case probably white and hay is in short supply a barn full of hay is like money in the bank. Even if you happen to have some hay left over I don't see any reason to discount it just to get rid of it unless you have to have the storage room. When properly made and stored the hay will be just as good the following year. Some people do seem to be funny about not wanting the previous years left over hay so I just don't even mention the fact that it isn't the current years hay and they are none the wiser.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Man oh man. Not sure if heresay is true. But I hear some squares going for $0.50 and rounds under $5 @ auction. Not worth the haul for that.

If I was smarter and had more money I would buy some just to compost.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

We were successfully selling hay in May and June because so many people here were reluctant to take it to Market. In July the bottom fell out many people started the haul hay to auction. There is a hay auction in my area every day of the week except for Sunday if I want to drive over an hour most days I could go to two auctions. There is one auction near by me I can get there in 15 minutes it is every Tuesday and there is a scale along the way in August 2 weeks consecutively I had to take the load home because it could not get a bid and it was beautiful third cutting , sound. Milk checks have picked up, and prices, are up slightly. We try to sell hay now and spring around corn planting time until the first cutting is 30 days old when guys can start to feed it. December January February and the first half of March are terrible. Even though it is winter the options get so full there is so much hay around every action has close to a hundred loads a day. Farmers living in all the surrounding states call Hay to the Lancaster County auctions and it is a nightmare. There are also quite a few brokers that still sell hay out the western states and his hauled quite a distance. It is possible to sell hay here profitably but the old adage hey will sell no matter what when it gets cold does not hold true here. I honestly think hay will get quite high priced here next spring due to our hot and dry summer that we just went through


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## Coondle (Aug 28, 2013)

Endrow, my heart goes out to you to have the pain of carting a load of hay back home without a bid. In your market you really are a "price taker", certainly not a "price maker".

I am, it seems, fortunate because hay auctions are unknown here. I do not know of any brokers of hay, although there are a few that buy and resell, usually with delivery. Although there is price sensitivity in my market I am more of a price maker.

Most common for me is direct sales to the end user. Some growers sell to retail outlets that buy by the truckload and sell to the public often only one or two bales at a time. The likes of hardware stores and stockfeed stores are the principal resellers. I rarely deal with them because they will buy on price alone in many instances so no consistency in sales but if one comes along and pays my price then that is OK. Ten minutes from my farm the local hardware stores sell for about $3 a bale above my shed price. There are folks that buy hay from there that drive past me every week, but then again they can buy on credit there. Cash is king at my place, with credit definitely an endangered species though not extinct.........yet.

Would hate to cart to an auction, be at the mercy of a day spot price and possibly have to cart it all back home if no bids. That would be all downside and damage to that load of hay. After all is said and done, the bales are the best they will ever be the moment they come out of the baler. There is some degradation every time they are handled.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

Coondle, I think you may have hit the nail on the head I have told at one time the auctions were a huge source of credit and with dairy being so poor the auction companies are not willing to let the money in the hay there is too much risk. That is how we sold our hay in the past and did custom farming, we were high enough for us to be profitable we had to finance everything and we sent a lot of feed to dairy farms I gave them time to pay after a couple of our hay customers had financial problems we decided too much risk for us to let the money get hay and straw. The plain6 Mennonites can keep their overhead lower than me. They are all very good farmers and any Enterprise they become involved in with in agriculture things go pretty good for them because they see fit to support one another


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Enrdow, So you think hay will start selling this winter? I wasnt sure what to think. I had some of the best volume of hay ever here. We werent dry untill now, however most VOLUME of hay comes from North pa and NY. I heard east NY is fine, but west had a drought. Some of the northern PA counties were dry too. I have some hay advertised and havent moved a bale aside from my normal monthly customers...


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## CDennyRun (Nov 26, 2015)

r82230 said:


> To save your time of unrolling/baling, just weigh your RB, divide the weight by 45-50 (what ever YOUR square bales weigh) and you will have a pretty good idea of the number of square bales to round bale you would have.
> 
> For reference a 14x18x36 inch square bale is about 5.25 cubic foot per bale and a 47.5 inch x 60 inch round bale about 77.75 cubic feet per bale. Example: 1000# round bale, divide by 47# (average square bale weigh), would equal approximately 21.25 square bales per round bale.
> 
> Larry


Makes me want to devise a good way to re-bale rounds! I've been thinking about this for a while. Not for resale, just because we didn't put up enough hay this year.

Chris


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