Hay per acre

[tractormarkb]

How much Hay do you get on average per acre? I have about 7 acres usable for hay and was wondering wether it would be a wise investment to but used haying equiptment to make enough Hay to keep 4 goats over winter?

 

[kyhayman]

Yield per acre, for me, first cutting, I'm getting from 6-8 round bales per acre in grass hay, and 3-4 in alfalfa. Square bales, I normally expect 100-120 on the first cutting and 40 or so on each of the later cuttings.

To answer you other question though. Is it economical to buy hay equipment and raise hay on 7 acres to feed 4 goats. I cant see how you would ever come out on that in pure economics.

 

[Harry C]

You should make way more hay than you would need for 4 goats. Sell the excess hay. But like Kyhayman said, on the economical side, payback would be pretty ugly.

 

[old]

You would have more then enough hay but are the goats worth the $4000 or so you will spend for the hay equipment. Figure you will need a sickle mower or MOCO at $300 to $2000 plus. A rake at around $300-1000 and a baler at $500 to $10,0000 so is it worth it??? In the long run you would be better off if you could find some one that would cut it on shares he gets 2/3s you get 1/3 and your both happy and you save a lot of $$$$$

 

[Ed S.]

We typically feed about 150 small bales over winter (mid-Illinois) for a large Quarter Horse and three Nubians (plus three new kids from this Spring, so we now need to add another 30 bales to that total).

My field is past due for amendments, but we just took 220 bales off it (second cut), maybe around 10 acres, mostly alfalfa, but had a section of oats (nurse crop) and another section of pasture mix grass (< 1 acre each).

With that, we have our animals needs covered, and expect to get another couple cuts off it this year to sell. I bought all the vintage equipment to bale ourselves, but it will take a long time to pay it all back at $2-3/bale - for us, it was more about the experience of doing this with my sons as they've grown up (one left at home at this point).

Locate a "sale barn" near you and you'll probably be able to get good hay reasonably priced. You can get 40 bales on a longbed pickup, so three loads should set you up fine to winter four goats.

If you go the equipment route, here's what I have in it at this point

1950 Ford 8N - $5500, including restoration costs - a running unrestored 8N will be $2-3000, but it's a bit small of a tractor for baling unless you're on flat ground with a small-ish baler.

New Idea 7' sickle bar mower - $150

Dearborn 3pt. PTO rake - traded for repairing a neighbor's tractor

New Holland Hayliner 68 baler - $500

There's also maintenance and repairs that come with vintage equipment - both the mower and baler broke during the second cut, and I'll probably spend $300+ getting them fixed in time for the third cut.

I also really need to add a conditioner to all that to cut my drying time down a couple days... a guy near me wants $800 for one (way too high based on comparable eBay prices).

Hope that's helpful,

es

Videos of using all the above equipment are here.

 

[LAA]

It is a wise investment if making your own hay is what you want to do and purchasing the equipment will not put you in debt. You can put a sharp pencil to everything you do and a lot of it would not make much sense from a purely economic standpoint but every evening when the sun sets is another day of your life that has passed by.

 

[Cub n M in OR]

Do it if it is what you want to do. It won't pay economically, but it sure will mentally. Puttin up your own hay is good for the soul. My home range typically produces 4 ton/acre per year, my new home in north Ca, is closer to 6 ton/acre.

Ben

 

[Finn Md]

I can't predict how many bales you'll get per acre, it depends on the condition of your fields and soil fertility, etc.. For my fields in MD that are average grass hay stands with minimal fertilization I get about 50 square bales/acre per cutting. Some fields I get more yields. You'll get more per cutting if you have a dense stand that is well fertlized. Unlikely to be economical for you, but I enjoy making and selling hay. Small squares require labor, and not easy. If you're physically up for it and plan on doing this for years give it a shot. Besides cost of equipment you'll need to apply urea a couple times a year and probably lime & potash every 2 to 3 years, which further cuts into real costs to do this. You can get soils tested to figure out these extra future costs.

 

[Finn Md]

as a follow up to my earlier post...forgot to say that for the year I usually average a total of about 100 to 120 bales per acre, and get 2 to 3 cuttings. Depends on how much rain & heat. You get most yield from 1st cutting and then each subsequent cutting reduced about half. Good Luck