efb said:
I was curious what you have to pay to get your hay put up. The price down here is now running 18 to 24 dollars per roll. I paid $20 for my first cutting and it was so short I doubt he made anything on it.
This year, I am paying $30 per ton for the contractors to mow, rake and bale part of our hay. The bales last year weighed 1330# average, so that is about two-thirds of a ton. Each bale would cost about $20 for the labor and I furnish the hay. :wink:
Our own crew could probably put up all of our hay (we have in the past), but it makes a long summer. My justification for hiring some of it baled, is that more hay gets put up when it should be put up. Also, if we get any rain, the early cut meadows come back with great aftergrowth for fall grazing. It is my experience that poor quality grass put up early as hay, is more desirable to cattle than high quality grass hayed later in the season.
A lot of our water tanks in areas where we both winter and summer, are eleven-foot Hastings steel tanks. One thing about these smaller tanks is that you rarely have to pitch any ice in the wintertime. Usually, if they are pumping at all they stay open. The last ones I bought were about $350 per tank.