Post below got me thinking- there would be a tremendous market in suburban horse-lady areas for small squares, delivered and stacked, in small quantities over the winter. Bale up all the hay you can find in round bales when quality is good, then rebale into small squares and deliver during the winter when there's not much other farm work to do. Even put folks with little storage space on a schedule, you just show up and put it in the barn. Sure, its a hassle, but what isn't, these days? Crazy horse ladies have a lot of money.
- Thread starter coshoo
- Start date
Matt from Oz
Member
Hi Coshoo
I am in Australia and this is a market I supply. I don't rebale but just press in small squares. Where I live getting a dew to bale can be a challenge I am doing lucerne as well. The negative of what you are suggesting is that there will be losses from the round to square repress and wouldn't you have to store the rounds in s shed anyway to stop weathering on the outside why not set up to be able to move the small squares of the field rapidly as this is where large bales of any type beat small squares and put the livestock hay into rounds? There can be good markets here for very weather damaged small squares to the garden mulch market. Just some ideas not trying to offend.
I am in Australia and this is a market I supply. I don't rebale but just press in small squares. Where I live getting a dew to bale can be a challenge I am doing lucerne as well. The negative of what you are suggesting is that there will be losses from the round to square repress and wouldn't you have to store the rounds in s shed anyway to stop weathering on the outside why not set up to be able to move the small squares of the field rapidly as this is where large bales of any type beat small squares and put the livestock hay into rounds? There can be good markets here for very weather damaged small squares to the garden mulch market. Just some ideas not trying to offend.
Did exactly that, and for that exact market, for years here in Scotland - used to make around 3000 small bales in field up to the point where my 'work force' (two daughters) left home! After that it was maybe 250 4x4 round bales, stored inside and then rolled out in the shed and re-baled - a grand inside job on a wet day. No mechanical unroller, just a long shed and a pitchfork! Economics certainly worked, one 4x4 round bale @ ?20, yielding about 12 small bales @ ?5 each - you do the maths!! Jim
Bruce from Can.
Well-known Member
- Location
- Woodville, Ontario, Canada
Friend used to do just this very thing, and used to brag about how great it was. Funny he must have made enough money for his lifetime, because he only did it one year
Case Nutty 1660
Well-known Member
I have been making hay for over 50 years,, learned long ago what many horse hay buyers are all about,, I do know of some who do the rebale thing,, I refuse to deal with common off the street horse hay buyers,, been burned enough by them,, I sell 250-500 ton a year but 99% is all in round bales these days,, the days of me baling 150,000 to 400,000 small squares will never happen again,, did that for decades though,, in those days I really disliked haying,, today I enjoy it and still make a few small squares for neighbors and good customers on order, I also bale 400-1000 straw bales a year,, that said if you have a solid place to sell like a hay auction that has lots of buyers it works,, if not well you will learn what I have someday if you try it,, my life long neighbor and his son found that out last year,, they bought a brand new round baler this fall and will cut back on small squares 80 % or so and only bale smalls for their solid customers who have been buying for many years
cnt
cnt
Welding man
Well-known Member
- Location
- West Virginia
There is a fellow right in my neighborhood doing exactly that. Claims he's getting $12.00 a bale plus a delivery charge for alfalfa. He runs the rounds through a Haybuster out on the ground and rebales it with a square bailer.
Tx Jim
Well-known Member
- Location
- Coyote Flats, Texas
I have a neighbor that purchases rd bales of Coastal hay from me then rolls them out to sq bale. He sq bales several hundred a week to sell to horse owners & feed stores. He's been doing this for yrs.
RobCons
Well-known Member
- Location
- Central Alabama
Seems like you would be double working yourself to me. I believe the market would be small because existing horse folks have somewhere to store enough for the winter. There is fellow around here that supplies enclosed storage trailers for square bales. Cost of rental is included in hay cost. When the trailer is empty just call and he swaps out with a full one. He has lots of customers.
Jim Phelps
Member
I guess that would depend on where you live, in my area there are plenty of horse owners, but most are feeding round bales in covered feeders. There are some high end horse guys who will pay top dollar for square bales but they want you to deliver and put in the barn for them. They do pay well.
showcrop
Well-known Member
I have a friend that does it. He built an unroller, then parks the square baler in front of it, and forks the hay into the baler. Doing this profitably will depend on the market. You have to have a lot of horses chasing a limited amount of hay as is the situation in a lot of the East. We all know that you can put up way more tons of quality hay with a lot smaller equipment investment with round bales. With good grass hay selling for $12.00 a bale you can easily triple your money without a lot of effort or investment.
I wish I could get in on the $12/ bale action. There is still a lot
of people doing square bales in Upstate NY and the going
price for good mixed grass hay is $3.50/$4 a bale. In the
summer people farther from the better market areas often
advertise square bales as low as $2/ a bale off the wagons.
Now there is an oversupply of wrapped round bales as many
dairy farmers have gone out of business and often still put up
their hay into wrapped bales for an ever shrinking market.
of people doing square bales in Upstate NY and the going
price for good mixed grass hay is $3.50/$4 a bale. In the
summer people farther from the better market areas often
advertise square bales as low as $2/ a bale off the wagons.
Now there is an oversupply of wrapped round bales as many
dairy farmers have gone out of business and often still put up
their hay into wrapped bales for an ever shrinking market.
A wonderful element of farming is you don't do the math on time and effort spent, if you do you will get depressed. I don't see where the labour put into rebaling hay pencils out very well. I guess if you have the setup and that is what you do maybe.It's kind of like dealing firewood, you're sure to get warmed up a few times just moving it around.
Making hay cost more than most realize,,or want to realize.. The cost and maintenance of hay equipment is extreme...not to mention seed and fertility programs..and of course land use,, you end up giving the hay away and selling your labor for half price. If you pencil it all out you find yourself wondering why you even want to do it...
Time and Labor have no intrinsic value unless there is some other more profitable enterprise to spend the time and expend the labor on. It used to be a very common thing for operators of farms to practice various ventures such as diversified livestock operation, selling firewood or logs, custom work etc. so as to be gainfully employed during the months that field work was slow or not necessary. Doing nothing is a sure way to earn nothing.
onefarmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- 6735 S Lowell Rd, St Johns, Mi 48879
I found horse ladies(?) have no money. One said her daddy wouldn't put in a hay field for her horse. Said her mom finally divorced the s,o,b. She still owes me for the hay she stole.
That is a good point a lot of people don?t think about. That is why I have always held an off farm job, to provide benefits and make my time have value every day. Just makes one a little more efficient when you don?t have time to loose. Working nights for a number of years and now using vacation time during peak farm work time has worked well for me .(I call my time off in June thru July 4 a ?haycation ?.
Here one needs to bale round bales drier than small squares for them to keep well.
Here it has been so wet for so long, years now, it is difficult to make a good quality round bale.
The small squares stand a chance, if you leave them tossed or dropped in a rack for a week before you stack them, so they can sweat out a little.
Last year I small squared some hay in August, it was ?first cutting? the field never dried out until then, so it was old hay with new hay growing in it.
I got $4.50 a bale for that stuff at a hay auction last winter, just because it was put up dry. It was not wonderful quality, but it was dry hay.
For reference, around here hay is a waste product made from wetlands and road ditches, and you get excited to get over $2 a bale at a hay auction.
So it was crazy to be getting over 4 bucks for the goofy old hay mix......
With the wet weather for 4 years now, the hay market is very unpredictable. Dry stuff is valuable, cattle hay is plentiful.
Paul
Here it has been so wet for so long, years now, it is difficult to make a good quality round bale.
The small squares stand a chance, if you leave them tossed or dropped in a rack for a week before you stack them, so they can sweat out a little.
Last year I small squared some hay in August, it was ?first cutting? the field never dried out until then, so it was old hay with new hay growing in it.
I got $4.50 a bale for that stuff at a hay auction last winter, just because it was put up dry. It was not wonderful quality, but it was dry hay.
For reference, around here hay is a waste product made from wetlands and road ditches, and you get excited to get over $2 a bale at a hay auction.
So it was crazy to be getting over 4 bucks for the goofy old hay mix......
With the wet weather for 4 years now, the hay market is very unpredictable. Dry stuff is valuable, cattle hay is plentiful.
Paul
Case Nutty 1660
Well-known Member
The last straw for me was when I had sold 20 ton of hay to a in-law, he paid for it in full,, and was picking it up as he needed it,, no problem there at all, it was over a mile off the county road in my field,, I had a person who had bought hay from me a few years then the last year they gave me a bad check on a closed account,, so I would not sell to them again,, the guys wife called me at least five times asking to buy the stack of hay she could see from the road,, I told her every time it was already sold,, so NO my Dad had to have heart surgery in Denver,, a days drive from my place,, they had become customers through him going to eat at the local greasy spoon hangout, in the place everyone who went there often knew the gossip and knew he was going to have it done and knew I was going down for it,, they came in while I was gone with a semi and loaded off what they wanted,, drove over the bottom bales to get it all loaded,, threw the top ones down,, I was left with 150-200 bales broken and driven over when I got back,, I had to replace that hay to my in laws,, lucky for me they had hauled enough already to get them through that year,, so I was able to replace it with the next years crop,, I know who did it but had no way to prove it,, the husband had a semi,, and I drove by their place to see the hay still on the truck,, I did make a phone call to them and made sure the guy knew if I ever seen him in person he would not like what happened,, funny I have never seen either one since and that was in the 80's,,, that was just one of a dozen stories I have from dealing with hay sales,, I have yet to ever get shafted by a cow hay buyer,, sure had one or two say they could not pay it all when they got it,, but they always followed through with pmt like we agreed upon,, I am all for someone being inventive and going where the sales are,, that is why I said to go through a hay sales yard,, they collect the money and deal with that type of thing,,
Made money for years doing just that. This year, here, I'd love to but simply don't have the hay, I can't even fill the round bale orders I've got. A $70 4x5 barn stored roll broken into 14 small squares at $10 is double your money less labor/fuel/and twine. Local dealer just prices a load of small squares at $19.50 each... gonna be a long winter for some folks..... Your local market will dictate.
BarnyardEngineering
Well-known Member
- Location
- Rochester, NY
I've got plenty of hay up here in NY. Good dry 2nd cut small squares that goat and sheep people turned their noses up at, at $4 a bale. Just have to get it on a truck headed to you.
showcrop
Well-known Member
Stonerock, Just down the road from me in Derry NH. It is not always $12.00 it happens in the winter following a poor hay year in the area. I was short hay for my regular customers at $7.00/bale this year and a friend told me of calling one of the larger hay producers and finding none available. I expect that hay will top $14.00 a bale this winter. During the winter the hay comes in from Quebec and New York, but this year New York does not have much.
onefarmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- 6735 S Lowell Rd, St Johns, Mi 48879
Who said I sold them what they didn't pay for. She came in when I wasn't home and STOLE IT.
onefarmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- 6735 S Lowell Rd, St Johns, Mi 48879
She got a low price alright. 100% off what she stole.
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