silage off field

irish_bob

was wondering what kind of money bales of silage off the field are making , a neighbour of mine got 18 euro in cash notes and was happy enough as the buyer loaded them himself and hauled them home

reilig

irish_bob wrote: »

was wondering what kind of money bales of silage off the field are making , a neighbour of mine got 18 euro in cash notes and was happy enough as the buyer loaded them himself and hauled them home

I think that's about the going rate. I was offered bales of silage yesterday for that too. They were chopped bales of good quality first cut that were baled in mid June. Was also offered 4x4 hay at €20 per bale - made in Mid June also.

Have opted with the price of grain to buy a 3 way mix of barley, soya and Citrus at €140 per ton. I have storage for about 20 ton.

Did you read in yesterday's Farmer's journal about the barley prices.
It said that buying barley at €115 per ton is the same feed value as buying round bales of silage at €10 each - and your cattle will probably do better on the barley.

Barley has to be the best option for this winter me thinks

irish_bob

reilig wrote: »

I think that's about the going rate. I was offered bales of silage yesterday for that too. They were chopped bales of good quality first cut that were baled in mid June. Was also offered 4x4 hay at €20 per bale - made in Mid June also.

Have opted with the price of grain to buy a 3 way mix of barley, soya and Citrus at €140 per ton. I have storage for about 20 ton.

Did you read in yesterday's Farmer's journal about the barley prices.
It said that buying barley at €115 per ton is the same feed value as buying round bales of silage at €10 each - and your cattle will probably do better on the barley.

Barley has to be the best option for this winter me thinks

i fully agree , bales of silage are usually over priced , barley with a bit of straw is more economical and you dont have to worry about dubious quality silage

reilig

irish_bob wrote: »

i fully agree , bales of silage are usually over priced , barley with a bit of straw is more economical and you dont have to worry about dubious quality silage

But it costs at least €10 to make a bale of silage - and then you have to factor in the cost of fertilizer. As you said, barley and straw is far more economical. This year anyway.

leitrim lad

i charge 13.50 to cut bale and wrap, including supply wrap, and i normally sell a few thousand bales every year silage ,hay and straw, silage i get 25 per bale loaded and you haul it home, straw i get 18-22 per bale and hay could be up to 30 per bale , all 4x4 bales

irish_bob

leitrim lad wrote: »

i charge 13.50 to cut bale and wrap, including supply wrap, and i normally sell a few thousand bales every year silage ,hay and straw, silage i get 25 per bale loaded and you haul it home, straw i get 18-22 per bale and hay could be up to 30 per bale , all 4x4 bales

your outfit would never leave the yard in my part of the country , the guy who bales for my brother charges 6 euro for bailing and wrapping and charges 20 euro an acre for mowing which is more or less 2 euro per bale , plastic is another 2 euro so thats a total of 10 euro per bale for mowing , bailing , wrapping and the plastic , when pit silage can be cut for 70 euro , where would you be going with 13.50 for just mowing , bailing , wrapping and plastic for each bale

as for your selling prices for bales , the market dictates , if thier is an early spring and a surplus of fodder , you can get bales for as little as 12 euro , double that and more if thier is a shortage , thier is no set price , your prices out of the field are extremley high , usually , you have to accept a reduced price when selling bales in the summer as thier is no guarentee their will be a demand the following spring

strange shoppers over in the west

Rujib1

irish_bob wrote: »

your outfit would never leave the yard in my part of the country , the guy who bales for my brother charges 6 euro for bailing and wrapping and charges 20 euro an acre for mowing which is more or less 2 euro per bale , plastic is another 2 euro so thats a total of 10 euro per bale for mowing , bailing , wrapping and the plastic , when pit silage can be cut for 70 euro , where would you be going with 13.50 for just mowing , bailing , wrapping and plastic for each bale

as for your selling prices for bales , the market dictates , if thier is an early spring and a surplus of fodder , you can get bales for as little as 12 euro , double that and more if thier is a shortage , thier is no set price , your prices out of the field are extremley high , usually , you have to accept a reduced price when selling bales in the summer as thier is no guarentee their will be a demand the following spring

strange shoppers over in the west

I pay €9 cut, baled and wrapped. I supply the plastic. I consider it too expensive, relative to overall returns from stock farming.
But that is the best I can get.

R1

irish_bob

Rujib1 wrote: »

I pay €9 cut, baled and wrapped. I supply the plastic. I consider it too expensive, relative to overall returns from stock farming.
But that is the best I can get.

R1

thats around the average going rate to be honest , its still far cheaper than what leitrim lad is getting away with , his rates are borderline extortionate

leitrim lad

yes irish bob i see your point, however my bales @ 13.50 are the cheapest in my area price wise, and to add to this i use john deere and mchale fusion balers, the difference is that others with welger and krone balers, are charging the same if not more than me, and making more bales per acre than me, so the farmers copped on to this and in the long run i make a better bale and it works out cheaper,

here is a fine example, just say for argument sake a 5 acre field, first cut, i get 40 bales off it,

well the fella up the road is 1 euro per bale cheaper than me and he gets 55 bales from the same field first cut, with his krone or welger or class baler, can you see now how im cheaper in the long run,

plus with less bales its easier on ground as it involves less travelling,

i havent had any complaints yet,

as for the selling of the silage ,hay and straw, i have my own customers and they are loyal, i sell top quality stuff ,not black rotten like some of the water that is wrapped up, and there is feeding in my bales too, so the cattle dont pull it in under them and waste it, like they do with most of the sh2t thats for sale out there.

i know what your saying about long and short winters, but i know in my area for a radios of 50 miles we have had long winters for as long as i can remember, and almost every year there is a shortage of fodder,

i know men who have cattle in now, and only had them out for about a month already this year,

and there will be a huge demand for fodder this year

irish_bob

leitrim lad wrote: »

yes irish bob i see your point, however my bales @ 13.50 are the cheapest in my area price wise, and to add to this i use john deere and mchale fusion balers, the difference is that others with welger and krone balers, are charging the same if not more than me, and making more bales per acre than me, so the farmers copped on to this and in the long run i make a better bale and it works out cheaper,

here is a fine example, just say for argument sake a 5 acre field, first cut, i get 40 bales off it,

well the fella up the road is 1 euro per bale cheaper than me and he gets 55 bales from the same field first cut, with his krone or welger or class baler, can you see now how im cheaper in the long run,

plus with less bales its easier on ground as it involves less travelling,

i havent had any complaints yet,

as for the selling of the silage ,hay and straw, i have my own customers and they are loyal, i sell top quality stuff ,not black rotten like some of the water that is wrapped up, and there is feeding in my bales too, so the cattle dont pull it in under them and waste it, like they do with most of the sh2t thats for sale out there.

i know what your saying about long and short winters, but i know in my area for a radios of 50 miles we have had long winters for as long as i can remember, and almost every year there is a shortage of fodder,

i know men who have cattle in now, and only had them out for about a month already this year,

and there will be a huge demand for fodder this year

i know all about mchale balers , they make a fantastic bale , well packed , krone would have 14 bales to the acre where mchale would have only 10 but what make of baler you own doesnt dictate the price you charge , the contractor who bales on my brothers farm has a mchale fusion baler yet his prices are as i quoted above , if what your charging is the going rate in leitrim , i find that astonishing , as for your comment about fodder being mad dear next spring , i dont know , nearly everyone got thier silage made perfectly dry in june , also , 2nd cuts are very big this summer , very good growth from the middle of june to the middle of july and the growth has been very good this past ten days also , due to the shortage of fodder the winter gone by , farmers that never done 2nd cuts before have made silage , add to this , the cost of fertilizer was half of what it was last year plus farmers are so short of cash at the moment , im not sure they could afford to fork out 30 euro for bales next spring , the bank would tell them to sell cattle instead , too early to call next spring yet regards demand for feed if you ask me

reilig

Just in a short reply to some of your points:

I have cattle on slats in Leitrim at the moment. They have been in for a month. I have lots of grass, but the ground isn't dry enough.

The guy that bales for me in leitrim has a Welger on a 390t. Also have some land in Galway and the guy that bales for me has a Fusion after a 160hp JD. To be honest, the guy with the welger makes the best bales every time. Don't know any contractor within 10 miles of me (except you) who charges €13.50 per bale, so you are definitely not the cheapest in your area.

In fact, talking to the Mchale rep at a recent show and he told me that there were no Fusions in leitrim. You must have only got it recently or bought it second hand. Wouldn't fancy letting you into my fields in leitrim with it this year. It was enough to let it run on the "dry" galway land.

As for selling hay and silage, as i said earlier, I was offered 4x4 bales of good quality hay for €20 and chopped bales of silage for €18 this week. They would involve a 25 mile draw. I also know that lorries coming down to leitrim from better pastures up the country are buying their hay at this price and putting a delivery charge on top of this for the farmer.

I can't see there being an over demand for fodder in our little county this year with the price of grain. Meal will be much cheaper than last year. Straw won't be too excessive either.

The local marts in Leitrim are also reporting a lot of farmers getting out of cattle because of grass shortages or like myself, wet land. I'm sure you're finding the same thing yourself.

leitrim lad wrote: »

yes irish bob i see your point, however my bales @ 13.50 are the cheapest in my area price wise, and to add to this i use john deere and mchale fusion balers, the difference is that others with welger and krone balers, are charging the same if not more than me, and making more bales per acre than me, so the farmers copped on to this and in the long run i make a better bale and it works out cheaper,

here is a fine example, just say for argument sake a 5 acre field, first cut, i get 40 bales off it,

well the fella up the road is 1 euro per bale cheaper than me and he gets 55 bales from the same field first cut, with his krone or welger or class baler, can you see now how im cheaper in the long run,

plus with less bales its easier on ground as it involves less travelling,

i havent had any complaints yet,

as for the selling of the silage ,hay and straw, i have my own customers and they are loyal, i sell top quality stuff ,not black rotten like some of the water that is wrapped up, and there is feeding in my bales too, so the cattle dont pull it in under them and waste it, like they do with most of the sh2t thats for sale out there.

i know what your saying about long and short winters, but i know in my area for a radios of 50 miles we have had long winters for as long as i can remember, and almost every year there is a shortage of fodder,

i know men who have cattle in now, and only had them out for about a month already this year,

and there will be a huge demand for fodder this year

leitrim lad

the majority of farmers i know have already appraoched me to buy, as we didnt do any second cut this year, our second cut would be last week july until september,

but with the rain and the downfalls ,men decided not to plough up good meadows for the sake of a few bales, im selling silage for between 18-20 a bale loaded,

but its a dying trade alot of men have also asked me how much an acre is it to mound, and im getting worried , if the forestry works out to be better paying than the cattle, with no maintenance or worries about cows calving, or what the weather is going to be like next week ,then alot of men will plant, and thats what john gormley wants,

you know your self ,milk, grain, beef prices are a scandal,and its forcing our people off the land into unhealthy overcrowded estates in towns and cities,

but who knows where we will be in ten years time

reilig

People won't plant if there's no grant. With all of these spending cuts, I don't think that there will be a grant for forestry next year. Why encourage forestry when the building boom is gone.

Personally I think farmers in leitrim should start looking at growing biofuels like Willow and Miscanthus which would be well suited to our soil types. By 2012, we will have a ready market for both in lanesboro power station which will be required by then to be fueled with a 50:50 peat:biofuel mix.

leitrim lad wrote: »

the majority of farmers i know have already appraoched me to buy, as we didnt do any second cut this year, our second cut would be last week july until september,

but with the rain and the downfalls ,men decided not to plough up good meadows for the sake of a few bales, im selling silage for between 18-20 a bale loaded,

but its a dying trade alot of men have also asked me how much an acre is it to mound, and im getting worried , if the forestry works out to be better paying than the cattle, with no maintenance or worries about cows calving, or what the weather is going to be like next week ,then alot of men will plant, and thats what john gormley wants,

you know your self ,milk, grain, beef prices are a scandal,and its forcing our people off the land into unhealthy overcrowded estates in towns and cities,

but who knows where we will be in ten years time

leitrim lad

i agree with you relig, im considering putting a farm i bought 2 years ago into rapeseed , but i dont know much about it , im kinda sourcing info on biofuels at present,

i must say irish bob i got 2 shocks today, firstly the taildoor of my lorry came down and gave me a bad shot on the head, im awaiting appointment for mri scan monday hopefully, but back to the point i contacted a friend of mine in kells co meath earlier, about another matter ,and he could confirm what you say is true, there are people out there that desperate for money that they will cut silage for 45 and 50 per acre, and bale for 9 per bale, i worked it out and i would be running at a loss of 1.25 per bale if i was to do that,

and my friend informed me that my 10 series john deeres would be like hymacs compared to the machinery these people use ,he reckons its all new gear, and the reason they are so cheap is just to get money to keep the banks off their door steps.

the country is in a bad way indeed, but i predict when all these undercutters do fall there will be a bigger playing field for the likes of me, and the price will come down if that were to be the case

Sam Kade

Down south first cut silage made €150-170/acre off the field and second cut is making €100/acre.

Sam Kade

reilig wrote: »

Did you read in yesterday's Farmer's journal about the barley prices.
It said that buying barley at €115 per ton is the same feed value as buying round bales of silage at €10 each - and your cattle will probably do better on the barley.

Barley has to be the best option for this winter me thinks

€115/tonne for green barley then you have to treat it with acid or dry it which will cost more money and will make the original tonne smaller, then it has to be rolled more money. By the time you buy other straights to make a ration out of it wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a ready mixed ration from the co op.

nilhg

Sam Kade wrote: »

€115/tonne for green barley then you have to treat it with acid or dry it which will cost more money and will make the original tonne smaller, then it has to be rolled more money. By the time you buy other straights to make a ration out of it wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a ready mixed ration from the co op.

Dried barley is being bought for €115 loaded on the purchasers lorry in this area, rolling would be €10-12 extra, properly stored it would keep for quite a while. There seems to be very little prospect of any significant price rise through the winter so if someone (or a group of neighbours) has the capacity to handle a load, it should be possible to have good quality feed at a much cheaper price than ex a mill or co-op.

I'm no expert but as far as I know a barley/soya/minerals mix should be fine for most stock.

Sam Kade

nilhg wrote: »

Dried barley is being bought for €115 loaded on the purchasers lorry in this area, rolling would be €10-12 extra, properly stored it would keep for quite a while. There seems to be very little prospect of any significant price rise through the winter so if someone (or a group of neighbours) has the capacity to handle a load, it should be possible to have good quality feed at a much cheaper price than ex a mill or co-op.

I'm no expert but as far as I know a barley/soya/minerals mix should be fine for most stock.

Dried barley would be good value at that price. If you had to get someone to roll barley as most people don't have their own rollers it will cost a lot more than €10-12. Where exactly did I say that a home mixed ration wouldn't be fine for livestock?

irish_bob

leitrim lad wrote: »

i agree with you relig, im considering putting a farm i bought 2 years ago into rapeseed , but i dont know much about it , im kinda sourcing info on biofuels at present,

i must say irish bob i got 2 shocks today, firstly the taildoor of my lorry came down and gave me a bad shot on the head, im awaiting appointment for mri scan monday hopefully, but back to the point i contacted a friend of mine in kells co meath earlier, about another matter ,and he could confirm what you say is true, there are people out there that desperate for money that they will cut silage for 45 and 50 per acre, and bale for 9 per bale, i worked it out and i would be running at a loss of 1.25 per bale if i was to do that,

and my friend informed me that my 10 series john deeres would be like hymacs compared to the machinery these people use ,he reckons its all new gear, and the reason they are so cheap is just to get money to keep the banks off their door steps.

the country is in a bad way indeed, but i predict when all these undercutters do fall there will be a bigger playing field for the likes of me, and the price will come down if that were to be the case

thiers one contractor in my area cutting with a prescision chop harvester for 70 euro an acre , thier is one doing it for 70 with a wagon and the rest are in or around 80 - 90 euro with self propelled machines , last year they were all around 100 but diesel has come down by about 30% since then

as for the bales , thats always been the price range in north leinster , the most expensive guy i know of charged 10 euro for mowing , bailing and wrapping and the farmer buys plastic but that was last year when diesel was expensive so im sure he has lowered his price this year

nilhg

Sam Kade wrote: »

Dried barley would be good value at that price. If you had to get someone to roll barley as most people don't have their own rollers it will cost a lot more than €10-12. Where exactly did I say that a home mixed ration wouldn't be fine for livestock?

There's a few of the big crimper/rollers in our area, I'm fairly sure for rolling a decent quantity in one go you'd be able to get it done at that price, they are fairly rapid once you get them set up.

I didn't say that you said that, just picked up on your comment that you need other straights to make a ration, most of the mills use a big variety of straights to keep the price down rather than the quality up.

Pacoa

This is a good article on the subject of grain that appeared in the independent last week
http://www.independent.ie/farming/dairy/save-your-money-on-ration-choices-1856088.html

scaniaman

The baling has got really competitive around here this year at least 3 new fusion outfits on the road. The crops were way back earlier in the year and these guys did't get the volume of work they thought they would.
I make a good few bales and got it done for €7 including plastic. I cut it myself the general run of baling and wrapping is about €6.50. The big outfits were looking for €100 an acre but towards the end of the 1st cuts there was all kinds of fancy prices going round €80 an acre and well below it. The €6.50 for baling does'nt include plastic. Silage on the ground made €150 an acre bales making €25 to €30 delivered.

Casinoking

I'd imagine the price of rolled barley will be around €140-€150 per tonne when prices settle, either dried or treated with acid. It might be possible to buy cheaper direct from the grower, a lot of the bigger ones have set themselves up with drying and handling facilities in the last couple of years. I've got a mobile rolling/crimping mill on the road, if anyone is interested in prices get in touch. As for the price for baling and wrapping, I'm charging €9 per bale this year for baling and wrapping including plastic. €13.50 sounds mighty excessive, the closest we ever got to that was €13 last year for mowing, baling, wrapping and stacking, including an extra layer of plastic. And I've never heard of anyone being paid a premium because of what kind of tractor or baler they have, I don't remember ever even being asked before I did a job.

Sam Kade

Casinoking wrote: »

I'd imagine the price of rolled barley will be around €140-€150 per tonne when prices settle, either dried or treated with acid. It might be possible to buy cheaper direct from the grower, a lot of the bigger ones have set themselves up with drying and handling facilities in the last couple of years. I've got a mobile rolling/crimping mill on the road, if anyone is interested in prices get in touch. As for the price for baling and wrapping, I'm charging €9 per bale this year for baling and wrapping including plastic. €13.50 sounds mighty excessive, the closest we ever got to that was €13 last year for mowing, baling, wrapping and stacking, including an extra layer of plastic. And I've never heard of anyone being paid a premium because of what kind of tractor or baler they have, I don't remember ever even being asked before I did a job.

Ration will be around €185/tonne this winter so if rolled barley will be around what you say, it will cost more to mix your own ration.

How much do you charge for rolling?

Casinoking

The price for rolling depends on how much grain is involved and how far I have to travel. A general rule of thumb is €12.50/tonne plus VAT for dry rolling, applying acid is extra depending on the moisture content.

Sam Kade

Justin McCarthy wrote in this weeks journal that bale silage is worth no more than €15 obviously he doesn't know what it costs to make bale silage. Unless he was comparing it to the cost of barley in feed value. I know of a few farmers that fed rolled barley and straw or bought in ration and straw and were not very happy with the results.

Rujib1

Sam Kade wrote: »

Justin McCarthy wrote in this weeks journal that bale silage is worth no more than €15 obviously he doesn't know what it costs to make bale silage. Unless he was comparing it to the cost of barley in feed value. I know of a few farmers that fed rolled barley and straw or bought in ration and straw and were not very happy with the results.

Yes, I read that also. He was comparing the purchase value of silage to purchase value of barley. In this context I bet he is not too far wrong.
Certainly buying in baled silage is a mugs game once it goes above €16 per bale. The quality is often very suspect.
I am a great believer in making ONLY first cut silage, for quality reasons and having the silage ground available for grazing throughout summer and autumn.
Then topping up with bought in concentrate right from the first day of winter feeding, in order to ensure your own stock of first cut sees you through the winter.

irish_bob

scaniaman wrote: »

The baling has got really competitive around here this year at least 3 new fusion outfits on the road. The crops were way back earlier in the year and these guys did't get the volume of work they thought they would.
I make a good few bales and got it done for €7 including plastic. I cut it myself the general run of baling and wrapping is about €6.50. The big outfits were looking for €100 an acre but towards the end of the 1st cuts there was all kinds of fancy prices going round €80 an acre and well below it. The €6.50 for baling does'nt include plastic. Silage on the ground made €150 an acre bales making €25 to €30 delivered.

in my part of the country , bales of silage might make 30 euro delivered in a late spring , no way they would make it in the summer , why would anyone buying early , run the risk of damage to bales so early and risk the chance of bales being under 15 euro a bale the following early spring , the whole idea of buying the previous summer is you get them a good bit cheaper than the following spring