Baling and wrapping?

Flasheart

Member
Location
N.Suffolk
Been asked to do a bit of baling and wrapping for a neighbour, what's a sensible charge for each?

Silage/ haylage in 4 ft rounds, would charge plastic at cost. Straw and hay in 5fts.

TIA
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
£6.20 including wrap for 4ft haylage and £2.40 for 5ft hay and straw
With the customers diesel this isn’t far off at all. 1p/kg I would pay a contractor to come bale straw, or £10.00 per tonne. It meant what ever size baler they turned up with they always tried to get the best bales, it didn’t matter if it was a old claas rollant, McHale fusion or one of 3 different size square balers in the area. 220kg fusion straw bale was paid at £2.20/bale.

It’s sold by the tonne so should be baled for by the tonne.
 

simmy_bull

Member
Location
North Yorkshire
Really find this customers diesel job odd.

Just wouldnt work where we are.
Do they arrive at the farm full of fuel and fill up when leaving?
There’s only the lad that pumps my slurry that usss my fuel and he’s was a youngish lad when he started a few years ago now becoming more established but even so I guess it’s less of an outlay for him during the year?

But I think if I was a contractor I wouldn’t want to be filling my 100k tractor up from an unfiltered little tank that’s as old as the hills.

When I left college and drove for a contractor I should imagine if we had all wanted fuel we would of drained them dry, the tank on the spfh would be bigger than some farmers tanks!
 

Grassman

Member
Location
Derbyshire
There’s only the lad that pumps my slurry that usss my fuel and he’s was a youngish lad when he started a few years ago now becoming more established but even so I guess it’s less of an outlay for him during the year?

But I think if I was a contractor I wouldn’t want to be filling my 100k tractor up from an unfiltered little tank that’s as old as the hills.

When I left college and drove for a contractor I should imagine if we had all wanted fuel we would of drained them dry, the tank on the spfh would be bigger than some farmers tanks!
I can see that working where you are working at the yard.
But baling and wrapping surely must be difficult.
You might be working in a field that is away from the farm and have to travel miles in the wrong direction to go back to fill up after. And what if you have to bale another field for someone else whilst your up in that area?
 

Werzle

Member
Location
Midlands
That's the road to bankruptcy
Theres plenty doing it cheaper but thats a fair price . Plenty with higher prices sat doing nothing and the kits still got to be paid for. Intresting conversation with my contractor the other day, folks moaning hes putting to much in the bales because there selling them by the bale! They want 12 soft centred bales to the acre and i want 8 weighing like lead. Beware of the contractors trying to earn more by producing more bales than they should. Tbf to contractors i think they ought to charge more to farmers who take the p#ss by expecting them to bale banks , drop bales at the top or have skimmings rowed up behind a haybob and charge more to those farmers who always want them there yesterday but dont want to pay for 12 mths.
 
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Theres plenty doing it cheaper but thats a fair price . Plenty with higher prices sat doing nothing and the kits still got to be paid for. Intresting conversation with my contracter the other day, folks moaning hes putting to much in the bales because there selling them by the bale! They want 12 soft centred bales to the acre and i want 8 weighing like lead. Beware of the contractors making the job pay by producing more bales than he should.
There may be plenty doing it that don't make it right was thinking going out one morning this week to bale hay at 9am that if you could guarantee weather like we are having for amount of time like other countries that prices and kit would be better utilised and then prices would be more reasonable
 

simmy_bull

Member
Location
North Yorkshire
I can see that working where you are working at the yard.
But baling and wrapping surely must be difficult.
You might be working in a field that is away from the farm and have to travel miles in the wrong direction to go back to fill up after. And what if you have to bale another field for someone else whilst your up in that area?
I quite agree.

If you have a price from a contractor inc his own fuel then you all know where you stand.
 

Werzle

Member
Location
Midlands
£7 for 6 layers here unchopped which isn’t enough but is about what can be got locally. Hay is 3.75, small paddock jobs might be 4.50. I wouldn’t do it for less just to get work.
I would rather buy my own baler than pay anywhere nr £4 / bale. The range locally for silage is £5.80- £7.50 and hay and straw is from £1.80-£2.70. Some contractors have farms and are owner drivers, the firms on the cheaper prices and paying a driver are treading water at best but thats not the farmers problem.
 

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