Straw for Muck

[Wilbada]

Evening all,

What arrangements do you have on straw for muck deals? Looking to set up a potential new agreement for pig muck, with the pigs being bedded down exclusively on our straw. Wondered if anyone has recently set up a similar agreement.

Thanks in advance

 

[Tamar]

You have the straw in the row........... pay for baling and hauling................ and they have the muck and pay for spreading it.

Might not be fair when fertilizer is £1000 /t; just like it isn't fair when straw is £100 / t and fert is £250 /t, but over the years it averages out.

 

[L P]

IMHO most of the arable farmers are too greedy on the straw side and it falls out of bed. If we had any stock left around here I'd happily supply baled straw in the stack ex farm in lieu of muck delivered to farm but not spread. I think that's a fair deal for all. Get a firm figure of what straw they need for the year and what muck you're having back... you should get it all back as muck, none to be surplus and sold behind your back. And stipulate it is thoroughly de stringed.

 

[DRC]

Evening all,

What arrangements do you have on straw for muck deals? Looking to set up a potential new agreement for pig muck, with the pigs being bedded down exclusively on our straw. Wondered if anyone has recently set up a similar agreement.

Thanks in advance

Did it for years with no money changing hands. Pig farm had free straw in swath, baled and carted it.
I had free manure in their yard, which I carted back and spread.
luckily we were close neighbours . Worked very well as I knew I was only getting my straw back and didn’t import any black grass or such like

 

[e3120]

Location is rather important. I agree with 'straw in the swath' and 'muck loaded into trailer' being fair handover points, but that would look a bit different depending on whether it's West Wales or East Anglia.

 

[L P]

Did it for years with no money changing hands. Pig farm had free straw in swath, baled and carted it.
I had free manure in their yard, which I carted back and spread.
luckily we were close neighbours . Worked very well as I knew I was only getting my straw back and didn’t import any black grass or such like

I guess as I have a baler it might be different, but stockmen being stockmen and arable farmers needing to get ground cleared for following crops it would be better to supply it in a stack and receive it back in a heap, else time pressure on both sides gets affected

 

[Pan mixer]

I bale and cart straw back to my pig farm.

He carts the muck back and I spread it for him.

 

[Rob Holmes]

I have a couple of muck4straw agreements, basically, livestock man pays for baling and transport of the straw, and I sort out transport and spreading of the muck.
You can make it as complicated as you like but this system is simple and works for all of us

 

[DRC]

I guess as I have a baler it might be different, but stockmen being stockmen and arable farmers needing to get ground cleared for following crops it would be better to supply it in a stack and receive it back in a heap, else time pressure on both sides gets affected

My chap used a contractor to bale and cart it back to the stack.

 

[Cobblers]

I have a couple of muck4straw agreements, basically, livestock man pays for baling and transport of the straw, and I sort out transport and spreading of the muck.
You can make it as complicated as you like but this system is simple and works for all of us

Completely agree on this deal , same agreement with my pig farming neighbour , he does borrow couple of bale trailers and in return I use his handler to load out the muck from his pad ,really simple .

 

[Wilbada]

I have a couple of muck4straw agreements, basically, livestock man pays for baling and transport of the straw, and I sort out transport and spreading of the muck.
You can make it as complicated as you like but this system is simple and works for all of us

Like the simplicity of this, had in my mind this sort of agreement.

 

[jh.]

For me it all comes down to the distances . I'm on the coast with the sea on one side , a town on one side and village on third , so only one side to other farms . This leads to some longer runs . I've hauled myself , put a few extra trailers on and it just doesn't stack up unless it's a neighbour distance . Once the trips are a few miles unfortunately the chopper goes on unless the livestock folk are able to return the dung.

I won't sell straw as don't want the OM leaving the farm permanently. Starting to think the straw removed fields need dunged at longest every 3rd year , or the straw is as well chopped .

 

[Sonoftheheir]

Local beef cattle man bales and carts the straw, we load and cart the muck back. He bales and carts the straw quickly. He makes beet slab sides with the bales too and carts them when we’re done. We borrow his spreader to spread the muck. He has straw from about 150 acres cereals and we get muck back for 60 odd acres of spud ground.

 

[Brisel]

Distance can distort it. I sell the straw in the swath for a low price, they bale & cart it. I put a tractor & trailer on when they want to muck out regardless of weather & time. 6-7 loads/day as it's a long haul. They borrow our kit when they need it occasionally for other jobs. We all get on fine.

The best is where both parties are equally happy/unhappy!

 

[David.]

Just worth bearing in mind that it's worth more to the stockman than the arable partner.
As mentioned above, you don't want to be selling your OM away cheaply, and it is the stockman with the N-Max problem.
I leave the straw in the row, and pay the muck spreading (which isn’t insignificant), end of. Well okay, I will put a tractor and trailer on for cleaning out, if I have time.
The day that isn't sufficient, I will go back to to chopping.

 

[ollie989898]

Just worth bearing in mind that it's worth more to the stockman than the arable partner.
As mentioned above, you don't want to be selling your OM away cheaply, and it is the stockman with the N-Max problem.
I leave the straw in the row, and pay the muck spreading (which isn’t insignificant), end of. Well okay, I will put a tractor and trailer on for cleaning out, if I have time.
The day that isn't sufficient, I will go back to to chopping.

I'd say it was worth more to the arable farmer myself- it's just a liability to the pig man. The benefit to crops from the muck amounts to more than just the value in pounds and pence, too.

 

[David.]

Ask yourself who can best manage without the other.
The stockman without straw available to him; or the arable man who can always chop his crop residue back in, keeping his OM at home.
Personally I'd still rather plough muck in than straw.

 

[ollie989898]

Ask yourself who can best manage without the other.
The stockman without straw available to him; or the arable man who can always chop his crop residue back in, keeping his OM at home.
Personally I'd still rather plough muck in than straw.

You are quite right in that respect, but who benefits from the muck the most? A pig man can buy straw anywhere.

 

[Brisel]

Isn't the idea to work for mutual benefit?

 

[Hilly]

Isn't the idea to work for mutual benefit?

That seems to have been forgotten about these days , not just straw for muck but every aspect of life ! Sadly its dog eat dog everywhere now .