Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption
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Nick
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Making hay.I'm looking to get someone in to turn my 5 acres of grass into small bale hay. Any suggestions how much I'd be looking to pay, and anything I should know, or be aware of? I can have it made as giant silage rounds, but I can't move them so easily...
And, for extra points, how many small bales do you get per acre. I'm aware this is almost like asking how long is a bit of rope, but it'll give me some idea of storage needed.
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TheGrange
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depends if its meadow grass or not - meadow gives less per acre, meadow is better for equines but cattle/goats/sheep etc fatten better on the other
If meadows been regularly fert'd it will produce much more per acre than left meadow - like you said ..bit like a piece of string, do you know what others are getting off theirs per acre, its often a good yardstick
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Nick
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Meadow. Well, it's got lots of buttercups in it, and in the last few years it's been populated sometimes by sheep and cows, but often nothing.
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Mary-Jane
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Re: Making hay. | Nick wrote: | | And, for extra points, how many small bales do you get per acre. |
We got 15 giant silage rounds off one of our 2 acre paddocks last year.
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vegplot
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Re: Making hay. | Mary-Jane wrote: | | Nick wrote: | | And, for extra points, how many small bales do you get per acre. |
We got 15 giant silage rounds off one of our 2 acre paddocks last year. |
Fly tippers, what a nuisance.
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SheepShed
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At a very rough guess you'ld get about 80 small bales an acre off meadow grass, although the smaller the field, the more wastage there is at the edges. So say 360 bales, which would take up about 80 cubic meters, roughly 15 foot square and 12 foot high.
All off the top of my head, and may be completely wrong 
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Mary-Jane
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Re: Making hay. | vegplot wrote: | | Mary-Jane wrote: | | We got 15 giant silage rounds off one of our 2 acre paddocks last year. |
Fly tippers, what a nuisance. |
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Nick
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| SheepShed wrote: | At a very rough guess you'ld get about 80 small bales an acre off meadow grass, although the smaller the field, the more wastage there is at the edges. So say 360 bales, which would take up about 80 cubic meters, roughly 15 foot square and 12 foot high.
All off the top of my head, and may be completely wrong |
Maybe, but it's a starting point, thanks. I can cope with that amount. Thanks. Any clues for the cost of the job?
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Bebo
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Our neighbour does a deal with a bloke up the road where he makes hay from his small field and then takes half as payment. No idea what the charge would be if it was a cash transaction.
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SheepShed
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| Nick wrote: | | Any clues for the cost of the job? |
That's very difficult, the smaller the job the less cost effective it is.
Needs mowing, then turning, then rowing, then baling, then trailering in. Spread out over several days, just when the people with the machinery will be the busiest. Say 20 person hours, at £17.50 an hour with the machinery ? About £350 ?
But then you'll have around £900 worth of hay at the end.
But the price could be anything really - it'll be finding someone to do it that will be the difficult bit.
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Nick
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Thanks. I can gather it in myself. We have trailers, vehicles, and for a half pig roast and a barrel of beer, plenty of help.
We also have someone who sounds like they'll do the work, it's just a case of planning (financially) for it. Will hay keep for 2 years, if dry stored?
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Nick
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| Bebo wrote: | | Our neighbour does a deal with a bloke up the road where he makes hay from his small field and then takes half as payment. No idea what the charge would be if it was a cash transaction. |
I'm thinking the same kind of deal, hence trying to work out what it'll produce (and thinking about how much I'll need).
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SheepShed
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| Nick wrote: | | We also have someone who sounds like they'll do the work, it's just a case of planning (financially) for it. Will hay keep for 2 years, if dry stored? |
If you've got someone prepared to do the work, then they'll be the ones deciding the price/deal/arrangement
Yes, hay will keep for 2 years, some horsey people prefer older hay.
Just make sure there's an air gap all round the stack (i.e. not stacked right up against a wall) and that it's on dry ground (can put fork-lift pallets underneath, although this makes an ideal home for rats).
Oh, and it's seriously hard work as well - the last bale weighs a hell of a lot more than the first !
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TheGrange
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| SheepShed wrote: | | Nick wrote: | | We also have someone who sounds like they'll do the work, it's just a case of planning (financially) for it. Will hay keep for 2 years, if dry stored? |
If you've got someone prepared to do the work, then they'll be the ones deciding the price/deal/arrangement
Yes, hay will keep for 2 years, some horsey people prefer older hay.
Just make sure there's an air gap all round the stack (i.e. not stacked right up against a wall) and that it's on dry ground (can put fork-lift pallets underneath, although this makes an ideal home for rats).
Oh, and it's seriously hard work as well - the last bale weighs a hell of a lot more than the first ! |
Oh golly yes ... my OH used to spend his holidays helping farmer friends out hay making... i offered once ...
Just be aware that wasps love a nice warm hay stack to nest in - we've stopped storing hay over the summer for this reason we had 5 nests in one stack a couple of summers ago and smoking them out loses you bales.
Its easier to handle as you know so attracts horse folk - but make sure its stored well dusty hay is a pain to rid and chewed stinged hay is a nightmare.
Just on the money side small baled hay is rare nowadays as small operations like yourself are the only ppl that tend to make it so it fetches a fair bit more (well around her it does upto £3.50 per bale) than the same quantity in large bales, large round hay bales fetch as little as £16. Also some of the farmers are trying to cash in on the horse market (they assume we all have money to burn, are simple minded or maybe both - keeping useless horses) so they haylage bale small bales and then this turns into a high concentrated feed - excellent for high performance equines, i don't know what your market or intentions for the hay you produce is but here such haylage goes at £5.00 per bale (being smaller quantities adds to the process and produces better haylage - apparently). Just food for thought.
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bibbster
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Making silageI have a similar  sort of question.
I have a 5 acre field which has over winter been grazed by 2 dexters, so there is a lot left!! They are now in another smaller field just 'finishing off'.
The farmer who has just started renting the fields adjacent to me has offered to cut and make into silage, and pay me for the bales.
I have been told that it costs about £10.00 per bale for the cutting, collecting, wrapping etc??, what would be a fair (to both of us) cost for him to pay for each bale?. He will be doing about 20 acres of his own also.
He also wants to rent the field for his sheep afterwards, but that is another thing to think about.
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TheGrange
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Lots of farmers around our way sell what they call mowing licences to one another loads of notices go up early spring onwards - the price varies quite a bit from what I’ve observed. It depends on whose land; sprayed or non-sprayed; access issues; location; and of course size.
But hay around here goes for £16 bale upwards, haylage starts around £20, packed tighter bales so you’re technically getting more quantity per bale, but its much less work for the farmer to collect haylage and silage than the work going into hay making and the amount of dry weather needed (hence why most farmers around here do haylage and silage)
Look in your local paper see what hay/silo/haylage in your area is going for then you’ll get the market price and can work from there.
If it's £10 normally for the work to be done and bales cost £20 to buy your way bung somewhere near the top end and see what he says ... and don't be afraid to haggle 
Failing that just ask him what he was thinking of paying you and go from there
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