what to charge for baling??

Have been asked to cut, rake and bale some hay (their acres) for a hobby farm (horses).

It"s about 5 miles from me. I have gas tractor, sickle bar mower, side delivery rake and small squares baler.

What is a reasonable price per bale to charge? Don"t want to make tons of money, but just a reasonable profit. I"m a "hobby" type too so don"t have a "feel" for what is reasonable.

Thanks for your help. Ron

Kinda depends on if you are loading and stacking wagons or if they are providing the man power or if your just gonna drop bail it. I charge .85cents/bail to cut,rake and drop bail.

I used to do that, and looked at as if I were doing the hay on shares. The common share arrangement in those days was landowner gets a third, operator gets 2/3. So your fee ought to be 2/3 of the value of a bale in your area. I'm on the other end of it now, and I pay a guy $2 per bale to put it up (dropped on the ground). He sells for $4 a bale if he can get it, down to $3 if competition makes him cut his price.

Nickg is way too cheap- I used to get 50 cents a bale to cut, rake and bale- 30 years ago! That was with 35 cent diesel and much cheaper twine.

Lot of missing variables there.

But you're talking a small price window anyways to work within.

Obviously they want to save money - figure they're paying 6 per bale now - means they'd probably be happy if they were paying anything less than 5.

(numbers obviously have to be based on the current hay prices are in your area)

You didn't mention how MUCH you'd do - costs are different for 200 hundred bales vs. a couple thousand.

A couple hundred and I wouldn't worry too much about wear & tear - or your time - that can just be written off as a fun little diversion.

Couple thousand is a lot different.

Do you have a kicker or are you loading all those bales onto a wagon yourself? Will these people be helping at all?

What about unloading into the barn?

how are you cutting? spending a full day with a 6' sickle mower is MUCH different than an hour with a haybine.

The bottom line is - grass if cheap - labor isn't, and I'd be sure they understood that.

Grass is typically pennies per bale.

So if they're supplying the grass and you're doing all the work - they can't expect to save all that much. With the above numbers, I don't think I'd go anywhere lower than 4.00 or so per bale.

But - obviously depends on how much you like these people. If you're doing it for fun and just to help them out - it's more a judgement call.

if you're making 3 per bale - I'd say you're covering a good chunk of your costs - give or take. And if it's in low enough quantities - who cares if you're a little ahead or a little behind.

If it were me and I was feeling kind, I'd say half the going bale rate. (assuming they're handling fertilizer and it's good quality hay)

OR - if you can use hay yourself - do it all for nothing and take half the hay.

Only you know your costs - it's all variable - how much gas you use - the state of your equipment.

If doing their haying results in you doing $1000 in repairs every season that you normally wouldn't have to do - obviously that needs to be factored in.

(on the other hand - if you break down while doing it - don't expect them to foot the bill)

If they're (what I'd call typical) horse people - and they get all picky about how tight the bales are and how square the corners are, and what color twine you're using, and don't want you to bale any weeds etc. etc - I might stay on the high side.

i agreee with Mike u need at least two thirds of the value of the hay so if its 3.00 hay u need 2.00 at least and if it goes in barn u need more unlesss hes a verry good friend and has helped u any time u needed it

When I mow, rake and drop up to 300 bales in the field, its $2.00 a bale. I charge less on larger amounts.

I figure it costs me between $1.50 and $2.00 a bale to make my own hay. Essentially that means the grass/weeds/ alfalfa is pretty much free, as is my labor. If I was selling, I"d want something for the hay and labor over and above that. Work is certainly worth something!

What about the fertilizer bill on your 2/3 - 1/3 split?

Msu has a price sheet. When you find it, it'll give you something to go by. Your best bet is charging by the acre for cutting and raking, then by the bale for baling. That way if it's a light crop, it makes it worth your while. I'm not sure, but I think cutting was around $15/acre, raking 7/acre, and baling $.60/bale. This was a few years ago though.

I do small fields for horsey folks like myself. I charge $13 per acre to cut, $6 and acre for each rake pass and 75 cents a bale to drop them on the ground. Also, I measure the actual hay area using a mapping program. Many times the field will not be exactly what they think due to obsacles, buildings, roads, etc.

Example for your size -

Cut $13 x 5 = $65
Rake 1 pass $6 x 5 = $30 (in hot weather 1 pass, in cooler weather 2 or 3 passes. I tell them it is better to cut in the heat but sometimes horsey folks know better :roll: )
Bale 55 bales an acre (my average on ave fields) 55 x 5 x .75 = $206

total is $301. They will get 275 bales. At $3.50 a bale, the retail cost is - $960. If I took 1/2 and sold them I would get $480 to sell them but would have to haul them home, store them and then sell them at 20-25 at a time.

On really good, thick fields, I make a lot more...

I will probably raise my dropped bale to 85-90 cents this year.

For rounders, Same cut and rake, then $12 per rolled bale.

John

For me cut,rake & bale left where it falls for $2 per bale with a minimum charge of $50 per acre

I'd try to get the landowner to pay a third, if he'd go for it. I actually didn't do much on a 1/3 2/3- that usually just came up in the summer, after fertilizing time, when someone needed a field done because his regular guy quit, or some such.

Most of the fields I did were actually free, or I'd just pay so much a ton, as they weren't interested in getting the hay. Mostly absentee owners, wanted the grass off to minimize fire danger, saved them the cost of hiring a bush hog guy.

I charged $1.00 a bale to cut, rake, and bale hay in the 80s. Sure need more than that now.

I charge 1.00 a bale cut rake and bale, they pick it up off the field. Only 2 miles away. Jim

I charge $3.25 a bale to mow,tedd twice,rake once,and bale drop on ground.Did 7200 bales last year.Whew!

Where are you? rates are a lot higher in the east!

You can charge by the bale, but if it's light hay..you lose. I would figure out the acreage and go to your local extension agent and find out what the custom rates are for mowing, raking and baling and charge by the hour. I do some custom work as a "favor" on a 2.5 - 3 acre parcel that is between my farms. I got $250 last year. Baled 28, 4x5 bales and loaded them on their trailer. I figured that the wear and tear, fuel, supplies, etc..that I should get 50 bucks per hour. I also do some Bush Hog work in the "neighborhood" and for that I get 40 bucks per hour. Again, charging by the bale is a game you can't win. My suggestion is to charge by the hour, plus fuel.

I do a lot of it and charge $65/hour. Make it very clear to them before you start. That's $65/hr. for mowing, $65/hr. for raking, $65/hr. for baling and $65/hr. even if I am just walking across the field.

I did a 4 acre field this year that was all squares. I just calculated the per hour rate (I bill based on acreage for cut, rake and bale - see prior post) and the per hour rate came out to be $50 to $60 per hour. It took me 1.5hr to cut (drum mower- real fast), 45 min to rake (24ft V rake) and 2-3 hrs to bale (slow NH 68 baler), if I recall correctly...

John

Popular arrangement here is 60% to operator and if landowner wants all the hay he buys operators share at market price.

Depends on the crop and size of fields... On an average crop I wouldn't do it for less than 1.50 per bale. More on a poor crop. That's still not really making anything either so the 2.00 figure is fairly appropriate.

Rod

I try to charge by by the acre or hour as by the bale can be a bust in light hay. It cost me the same fuel, and time if there are 10 bales to the acre or 100, the only difference is the cost of additional twine.

Figure how much your time is worth, how much it cost to operate and maintain your equipment, and how long it takes you to cover an acre and charge accordingly.