Haying

Need a little advise on what to charge per bale for baling small square bales(twine) and also for mowing with a sickle bar mower per acre. I am in the NE Kansas area.

Hay prices change all the time. You can check some prices on www.hayexchange.com. The mowing is really what the market will bear. I charge $50hr for all work I do with my equipment. It's really on the cheap side I am told.

If I understand the question, you are not selling hay.

You are selling your services to mow and bale the hay.

You have to make it worth your while. What you get out of the job will have to cover your fuel, your time, and any wear and tear on the equipment. Keep in mind that you could have a catastrophic breakdown and lose your bu$$ on repairs.

Individual markets vary a lot, but if you have good equipment and can do the job in a very timely manner that coordinates with the weather, then here is some guidlines. This is based on experience as we do some custom square baling.

Cut, rake, bale (50-60# bales), drop in field $2.00/bale minimum.

Cut, rake, bale, bales on wagons pulled up to barnyard for customer to unload $2.50/bale min.

Cut, rake, bale, bales stacked neatly in customer's barn $3.00/bale min.

Buy my guaranteed quality horse hay from my barn, loaded and hauled by the customer.. $4.00/bale now.

We provide good equipment, have backup tractors, balers, and wagons to cover any possible breakdowns, and have electronic moisture meters in the bale case of each baler that reads out in the tractor cab. Grass/alfalfa mix hay must be below 17% moisture in summer baling to be mold free in storage. Cow hay is a lot less critical, as the cows can put up with a lot of dust from molds.

These rates assume hay is being made on a decent hay field, not some old pasture filled with rocks, posts, wire, and trees. The field should be reasonably weed free and have been fertilized to give a decent crop. If the crop is very thin, do not do the job on a per bale price. I have seen some "hay fields" that yield only about 10 bales/acre in midsummer cutting. You need about 50 bales/acre minimum to make the above prices work for you.

With all the variables, it is really hard to give any good answer without seeing the field and crop. When I get a possible customer asking about the costs, I make sure that I visit the field and see their barn before giving any firm prices. When they choke at the cost, I tell them to go buy their own equipment and a maintanence shop, hire somebody who knows how to operate and maintain and fix it, provide adequate insurance for travel on the roadways, and liability insurance for anyone possibly getting hurt, do the paperwork with the FSA and the IRS, and if they can do all that and get good dry hay into the barn cheaper than I can, why hell, I'll subcontract all my work to them and they can get rich too. ...Never had any takers on that offer.

Sorry the answer is so long...

Paul in MN

Contact your county extension agent. He should have a survey of "custom hire" rates for your area.

Paul MN, you hit the nail on the head. When you provide a service and the potential customer says you are robbing them, they have no idea the cost involved. I charge $50-$65 hr to bush hog on the side and I feel it is fair at most. Sometimes it seems cheap to me after I figure loading, trailering, unloading, mowing, loading, unloading, cleaning, greasing, ect... But I recently saw in a local paper that a guy is bush hogging for $25-$30 hr. I cannot go that low, I will keep my day job.

Charles

we do 125/hr for all custom work. but then again, this is NY.

My neighbor paid me $50.00 for mowing an area of his yard that hadn't been mowed for several years.
He was using a string trimmer and was making much headway. He wanted to know if I knew of a better way to clear it off. I said I have a mower that will cut it and chew up the vines and weeds. Took me about 30 minutes. He was very happy. Hal

The guy who is bush hogging for $30/hr will soon be out of business. He can't afford the maintanence, repair parts, and fuel. So just enjoy a few weeks off, and your phone will begin ringing again. At $50/hr, you are working for less than minimum wage. Your before-the-job costs nearly eat the 50.

Most important, be as safe as possible, do not get agressive with the equipment on unknown land. You never know where the unseen deep hole, raised well casing, old tree stump, big rock, or gopher tunnel maze is. I have found all those things and much more as I used to do contract mowing for the village. About 15 years ago I was charging $125/hr for mowing unmowed, never seen sites. Sounds like a lot, but the repair expenses ran high, like when a broken off steel "T" post ran right through the oil pan of my tractor. Tires took a heck of a beating. The mower needed daily maintanence.

Don't work for others too cheap, heck...they can barely find the time to write you the check, and what a horrible inconvenience it is!

Best Wishes!!

Paul in MN