Silage / Straw / Hay Price Tracker

[Hfd Cattle]

If it’s the grass that’s been down with a heap of rain on it your being very optimistic

I'm trying not to look at that field !!

 

[Hfd Cattle]

They will be auctioning mowing grass down with you next week @Hfd Cattle while its under water won't they?

It will be interesting to see what happens. It made mega money last year.
By the time of the auction the river will have gone down ,the sun will be up , the mowers will be on and we will have all forgotten the past 7 days .....except for me cos I will be still trying to dry what I mowed last Sat !!!
I see the auction is at the Queenswood park this year.... I cant see many farmers stumping up the parking charge . There will be pickups parked along the A49 causing mayhem !!

 

[Hfd Cattle]

Unless you have 20 bales acre of silage that has no feed value you will be very hard pushed to do it for £10 bale unless you haven't put any fert on.

On the buying front, what happens the year roundbale silage is making £30 bale, wont look such a good idea buying it in then and don't forget the cop costs for round bale silage include haulage costs from field to stack, if you buy in silage you will ( unless you buy from a merchant ) have haulage costs on top of the cost of buying the silage and given you may have to haul it a long way you could soon be paying £5 bale haulage so that silage is costing £35 bale compared to say £20 bale if you grow/ make it yourself!

There is always someone around here trying to sell silage . I agree £10 bale is a bit optimistic but I also think £20 to £22 is a tad expensive to make it at.
If you bought in you would have no harvesting costs or weather worries and you will also still have your own grass to do something with I.e. Run some cattle on or sheep. A lot of my mowing grass I have run 'tack' sheep on all winter so it's not needed much fertilising and it's cropping well.
Pricing the cost of making fodder is a bit like statistics ....you can make them read however you want them to read. The main thing is to me ,next Tues when I visit the accountant 2 things will matter . Firstly the look on his face ,secondly the bottom line . ....He also has the knack of making things read a certain way !

 

[4course]

I’ve got someone wanting to buy some bales off the field. It’ll be second cut new seeds .
What’s it worth per bale if they pay for mowing, baling etc. It’ll be quality stuff all being well.

silage, haylage wet or dry, or hay ? a lot depends on the yield dm and weight /type of bale, weve found it a minefield an so now we dont sell or rather cost any unless we know dm and weight, its an eye opener

 

[Northeastfarmer]

I’ve got someone wanting to buy some bales off the field. It’ll be second cut new seeds .
What’s it worth per bale if they pay for mowing, baling etc. It’ll be quality stuff all being well.

Friend has sold some for £8 but that’s old pasture stuff....yours wants to be more

 

[DRC]

Friend has sold some for £8 but that’s old pasture stuff....yours wants to be more

Needs to be really , or else growing decent grass leys as an arable break, won’t pay , especially with me putting fertiliser on. But then what does really pay that much if you cost out every penny.

 

[Devil's advocate]

At cost £15 to produce you would need 1000 at £30 sold??

I don't think it is possible to produce those bales at £15 each & it is hard to reliably sell at £30 a bale especially when you consider weather events.

Just consider the costs of producing a 1,000 bales
100 acres of grass don't forget reseeding, fertliser, herbicide, field gates, hedging, road maintance,rent, alternative possible use
Equipment to harvest, 1,000 bales, store it & load it. Chasing up bad payers.

Livestock farmers have problems but it is almost impossible to break even selling fodder.

We make a bit selling small bales in small lots, but we always lose money on big bales, it just gives us an outlet for the spare.

 

[livestock 1]

I don't think it is possible to produce those bales at £15 each & it is hard to reliably sell at £30 a bale especially when you consider weather events.

Just consider the costs of producing a 1,000 bales
100 acres of grass don't forget reseeding, fertliser, herbicide, field gates, hedging, road maintance,rent, alternative possible use
Equipment to harvest, 1,000 bales, store it & load it. Chasing up bad payers.

Livestock farmers have problems but it is almost impossible to break even selling fodder.

We make a bit selling small bales in small lots, but we always lose money on big bales, it just gives us an outlet for the spare.

How I got to the £15 was the cost of fert, plastic and the mechanical and physical effort here. I didn’t add rent or mortgage or reseeding we thought with that on would take us near £20

 

[Devil's advocate]

How I got to the £15 was the cost of fert, plastic and the mechanical and physical effort here. I didn’t add rent or mortgage or reseeding we thought with that on would take us near £20

I agree may be a little more but the aftermath is also worth a bit of something.

So there is no profit for the producer & reading opinions on here the end user. So it has to be equine or crops.

 

[livestock 1]

I agree may be a little more but the aftermath is also worth a bit of something.

So there is no profit for the producer & reading opinions on here the end user. So it has to be equine or crops.

It all depends on crystal ball stuff??

 

[d williams]

£3.20. Nothing stirs this forum up like a costing session, it puts people off posting. I aint saying what a contractor should charge or needs to charge , im stating the facts of what im charged. Like it or not, ffs.

You must be the only man getting it done cheaper than last year
As when stating facts remember what you said last year!!!

 

[livestock 1]

You must be the only man getting it done cheaper than last year
As when stating facts remember what you said last year!!!

I really need his contractors number

 

[Werzle]

You must be the only man getting it done cheaper than last year
As when stating facts remember what you said last year!!!

You need to read post's before getting excited, the thread your referring too is titled what is a fair price , not what are you paying or charging and to be fair i had changed contractors last year and was buying the plastic myself for the first time. I hadnt received first cuts bill which turned out to be cheaper than i was expecting and when the plastic bill came that was discounted too by more than i thought.

 

[Werzle]

Tip for anybody wanting a better service or discount from your contractor , pay the bill on time, give your contractor notice of when you want him if poss, keep fields free of wood, wire and stones, row up with a rake to speed the job up for him and help him out on banks by catching bales etc. Contractors have to carry the costs of fuel,net and wrap for 12 months in some cases so have to charge more to be able to stand it.

 

[Hfd Cattle]

Prompt payment is always a good start together with planning. if a contractor knows he is going to be paid promptly he will turn up promptly because quick money in the bank is good for cash flow and even better if he has a few days notice. If I think I will need to get someone in for harvesting (usually baling) I will ring them before I mow so that they can plan it in. ....

 

[kfpben]

Prompt payment is always a good start together with planning. if a contractor knows he is going to be paid promptly he will turn up promptly because quick money in the bank is good for cash flow and even better if he has a few days notice. If I think I will need to get someone in for harvesting (usually baling) I will ring them before I mow so that they can plan it in. ....

Surely people don’t mow and only then call a baling contractor!?

 

[Werzle]

Surely people don’t mow and only then call a baling contractor!?

Still plenty that ring for the baler the day they want it baled!

 

[Celt83]

Still plenty that ring for the baler the day they want it baled!

A friend of mine does a bit of baling, and he says you’ll be surprised how many phone the day they want him to bale and if he can’t make it he’s the bad guy “you’ve let us down again”

Madness!

 

[sticky]

I've given up doing baling for other people this year. I was only doing four or five people but the all want to do it when I want to do mine which drags it out for up to three weeks, my kit is getting older and I have no desire to upgrade it at the moment and one of them still owes for last year.

 

[Hfd Cattle]

Still plenty that ring for the baler the day they want it baled!

And as it starts raining and wonder why they are too busy to come !