Field of standing grass

[nick...]

I’ve got 7 1/2 acres of a horse hay mix that wants cutting pretty soon.a neighbor is interested so what should I be asking for it.not yet been in 2 years and had a feed this spring too.
Nick...

 

[jellybean]

Maybe you shouldn't be "asking" anything but telling him the price! Don't mean that to sound aggressive but just remembering that people say farmers are price takers not price makers.

 

[Werzle]

£500

 

[Ted M]

£90/acre locally and had 100kgs of 27-5-5 in the price

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

Why not charge by the bale? Fair to both sides then. Small bales £2 round bales average size £10 - 12, 4 stringer £12 - 15 and 6 stringer £18 - £25.

 

[Ted M]

Why not charge by the bale? Fair to both sides then. Small bales £2 round bales average size £10 - 12, 4 stringer £12 - 15 and 6 stringer £18 - £25.

We buy straw like this off one farm, agree the average price per acre locally then just divide by the tonne /bale.
Seems to work well and like you say, fair to both sides.
Good crop we pay a bit more, but not paying for bare patches, poor crop in a year like this.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Why not charge by the bale? Fair to both sides then. Small bales £2 round bales average size £10 - 12, 4 stringer £12 - 15 and 6 stringer £18 - £25.

£10 if that's just for the grass sounds a bit steep to me

 

[Ted M]

£10 if that's just for the grass sounds a bit steep to me

If you take the average price of a silage bale at around £20+, putting in rough contractor costs (mow, ted, rake, bale) will work out minimum £10/bale on a 10 bale /acre crop.
Fertiliser can easily be £30/acre which leaves you around £7 for just the grass.
Obviously not many 10 bale crops around this year so £10 for the grass may turn out cheap.
Lots of variables to consider obviously.
Our £90/acre seems a lot on the face of it but when you take the fert into the equation and the fact it neighbours our own ground hopefully it won't be too bad as long as the crop is half decent ?.
Personally I would be happier with a £10 bale charge as I doubt it will do nine...

 

[neilo]

I’ve agreed to sell mowing grass to a near neighbour by the bale, as he’s expanding his dairy herd at home. He’s doing all the harvest work, just buying a standing crop. No way it will do 10 bales an acre of ‘milking cow’ silage, but more likely 6/ac this year, cut at that stage (sheep grazed it hard through April).
I’m not charging him £10/bale, but I won’t have several £k of contractors baling charges for a stack of several hundred bales that were worth bugger all to sell last winter. I chose to sit on them, so I don’t need any more myself, and still have several hundred to sell.
I’d rather charge a bit less to someone I know will pay, I know will cart it in reasonable time and who I’d like to have a long term agreement with. All worth money imo.

 

[steveR]

.
I’m not charging him £10/bale, but I won’t have several £k of contractors baling charges for a stack of several hundred bales that were worth bugger all to sell last winter. I chose to sit on them, so I don’t need any more myself, and still have several hundred to sell.

Sitting on a goldmine there Neil!!

The fodder will be coming from Wales this winter, not the other way round!!

 

[oldoaktree]

Sitting on a goldmine there Neil!!

The fodder will be coming from Wales this winter, not the other way round!!

There’s loads left over from last year on a few farms I’ve seen this spring

 

[Derrick Hughes]

There’s loads left over from last year on a few farms I’ve seen this spring

Yes they could not get £10/bale in the auctions,

 

[suffolksmallholder]

From my film co days. 100 bales an acre @ £3 per bale and go from there. Small 'trad' bales I'm talkin' about.
SS

 

[7610 super q]

Sitting on a goldmine there Neil!!

The fodder will be coming from Wales this winter, not the other way round!!

I dunno. No rain here to speak of since mid March....

 

[suffolksmallholder]

Snake Oil
Steve Earle



Ladies and gentlemen, attention please
Come in close so everyone can see
I got a tale to tell, a listen don't cost a dime
And if you believe that we're going to get along just fine

Now I've been traveling all around
I heard trouble's come to your town
I've got a little something, guaranteed to ease your mind
It's called Snake Oil y'all, it's been around for a long, long time

Well, your crops'll burn if it don't rain soon
Ain't seen a drop since the tenth of June
Well, I can open up the sky, people have no fear
If you ain't impressed yet, just tell me what you want to hear

Well, you lost your farm so you moved to town
You get a job, they shut the factory down
Now you sit around all day long feeling sad and blue
You need Snake Oil y'all, tell you what I'm going to do

I can heal the sick, I can mend the lame
And the blind shall see again, it's all the same
Well, ain't your President good to you
Knocked 'em dead in Libya, Grenada too
Now he's taking his show a little further down the line
Well, between me and him, people, you're going to get along just fine

 

[Chae1]

From my film co days. 100 bales an acre @ £3 per bale and go from there. Small 'trad' bales I'm talkin' about.
SS

Were you a film star?

 

[suffolksmallholder]

Were you a film star?

No just rented land & buildings to a variety of film co's. Redcaps, Midsomer murders, The lost Prince, Paul and Barry The Chuckle Brothers, Poirot to name a few.
My Dad managed to get all the TV ariels removed from every house in Hambleden for the filming of Chitty Chity Bang Bang at a cost of £15 per household and I carried this idea on.
SS

 

[steveR]

I heard trouble's come to your town
I've got a little something, guaranteed to ease your mind
It's called Snake Oil y'all, it's been around for a long, long time

Well, your crops'll burn if it don't rain soon
Ain't seen a drop since the tenth of June
Well, I can open up the sky, people have no fear
If you ain't impressed yet, just tell me what you want to hear

I'll buy it.....


Not listened to Copperhead Road for a very long time...

 

[suffolksmallholder]

I'll buy it.....


Not listened to Copperhead Road for a very long time...

'Tis a great album!
SS