how much to pay to spread fertiliser

farmernewbie

Hi Lads,

Getting neighbour to spread 3 ton of fertiliser for me next week. Small bags so bit of work involved. He has to cover 40 acres.

New to this so wondering how much I should pay him.

Manoffeeling

€50

1chippy

You can throw him 50 once you dont need him back at any other stage 70-80 would be the minimum in my mind but 100 wouldnt be out of the way. you may need him back and there is no point in insulting him.

mf240

Around 100

Bean_Flicker

farmernewbie wrote: »

Hi Lads,

Getting neighbour to spread 3 ton of fertiliser for me next week. Small bags so bit of work involved. He has to cover 40 acres.

New to this so wondering how much I should pay him.

Are you going to be helping him load the spreader?

epfff

farmernewbie wrote: »

Hi Lads,

Getting neighbour to spread 3 ton of fertiliser for me next week. Small bags so bit of work involved. He has to cover 40 acres.

New to this so wondering how much I should pay him.

contractor beside me is 30 a ton and complains at the siggestion of less than 2 bags to the acre dosnt seem to mind hauling a distance away from yard
another guy is 15 a ton but has the name of struggling to get it in to the right field never mind accurate

Manoffeeling

1chippy wrote: »

You can throw him 50 once you dont need him back at any other stage 70-80 would be the minimum in my mind but 100 wouldnt be out of the way. you may need him back and there is no point in insulting him.

I misread the question. 40 acres getting 3 ton is only a bag and a half per acre. Why so little?

Red Cloud

How much would old pasture that never gets slurry, need per acre for grazing?

farmernewbie

He might be doing it on his own as I might be at work. Is 3 ton light for 40 acres? I am new to this. It won't be getting slurry.

epfff

depends whatb you want from it and what you are spreadingi often put 4 bags 24 2.5 10 on silage ground and also often put 1/3 of a bag of urea early spring to encourage grass to grow
are you intensive?

newholland mad

In the southeast all merchants have a bulk spreading service @ a minimum of e30/tonne for 3 bags/ac more per tonne for 1 or 2 bags

mf240

farmernewbie wrote: »

He might be doing it on his own as I might be at work. Is 3 ton light for 40 acres? I am new to this. It won't be getting slurry.

It all depends on what stock you have if your lightly stocked then theres no point in throwing out a heap of fertilizer.

just do it

farmernewbie wrote: »

Hi Lads,

Getting neighbour to spread 3 ton of fertiliser for me next week. Small bags so bit of work involved. He has to cover 40 acres.

New to this so wondering how much I should pay him.

Amount of time it takes is also a consideration. How well do you know him? If you trust him asking him might be a good approach and you now have an idea what the work is worth.

My biggest piece of advise is keep him on side. Good neighbours are priceless.

farmernewbie

True, I don't want to do him in. Want to give him a fair price and maybe a bit above normal going rate.

farmernewbie

I am very lightly stocked just took over the farm. Will be buying 15 weanlings and selling them as stores in November. I will be taking a cut of bales off 30 acres and selling them.

I am just worried now that 3 tons of 18.6.12 isn't enough and I maybe doing damage to the ground.

dar31

€5/ac

freedominacup

dar31 wrote: »

€5/ac

Min I'd have thought. Some dose when the guy has a 24m spread and is covering the acre in less than a minute. You really don't feel like you're getting value for money.

just do it

farmernewbie wrote: »

He might be doing it on his own as I might be at work. Is 3 ton light for 40 acres? I am new to this. It won't be getting slurry.

farmernewbie wrote: »

I am just worried now that 3 tons of 18.6.12 isn't enough and I maybe doing damage to the ground.

You need to soil test to know what you should spread regarding lime, P & K. Nitrogen to match demand and as you'll be lightly stocked you probably only need 15-25 units/ac every 6-8 weeks max.

Teagasc has a new manual out for beef farmers that would probably be well worth your while buying. It will cover all the basics. The journal each week is also a must. I keep thinking there won't be anything new in it that I haven't read about before but I envariably take something from it each week.

farmernewbie wrote: »

I am very lightly stocked just took over the farm. Will be buying 15 weanlings and selling them as stores in November. I will be taking a cut of bales off 30 acres and selling them.

Buy the weanlings asap. As soon as the grass appears they're going to jump €100/head. Lads at this trade would say the earlier you buy and the later you can sell the better the margin there is out of it. Therefore for future years I'd be looking at early Spring grass i.e. improving soil fertility and reseeding.

On how much to pay, I've a lad that comes in regularly enough doing a few hours work here and there for €10/hr cash. For the likes of spreading fertiliser I'd say €20-25/hr is a reasonable rate. If it's a small tractor which is light on fuel €20, if it's a big tractor €25. Ultimately it should end up costing around the same as the bigger rig out will get it done quicker.

Let us know how you get on;).

hedger

€35 a ton is what i charge but would nearly want to charge by hour for anything less than 2 bags per acre.

farmernewbie

Gave him a hundred. Worried that with the heavy rain and bad weather it will be washed away before the sun comes out next week. Did I put it on at a bad time?

Ye lads reckon I should be putting on 4 tonn or more 18.6.12 every year? Is 10.10.20 any good?

JohnBoy

we pay €4 an acre to a cheap contractor, 4 bags to the acre in big bags.

Maybe I'm soft, but I'd want more than a hundred euro just for handling 3 tonne of bags by hand, never mind actually spreading them

just do it

farmernewbie wrote: »

Gave him a hundred. Worried that with the heavy rain and bad weather it will be washed away before the sun comes out next week. Did I put it on at a bad time?

Ye lads reckon I should be putting on 4 tonn or more 18.6.12 every year? Is 10.10.20 any good?

You need to soil test. 2 units of N is utilised in 1 day.

farmernewbie

Thanks Just_do_it,

Running a small operation so don't want to go do expensive soil tests. I won't be running an intensive operation just yet. Bought 18 yearlings at the wkd for 800 a pop. Weighing about 300 to 320kgs so happy enough with that. Seems some people are paying 900 to 1000 for similar weight ch and lim cattle.

Pharaoh1

farmernewbie wrote: »

Thanks Just_do_it,

Running a small operation so don't want to go do expensive soil tests. I won't be running an intensive operation just yet. Bought 18 yearlings at the wkd for 800 a pop. Weighing about 300 to 320kgs so happy enough with that. Seems some people are paying 900 to 1000 for similar weight ch and lim cattle.

IMO soil test definitely worth it.
For example it might show that you dont need 18-6-12. Pasture sward might be ok for grazing ground and Cut Sward for the silage. Big saving straight away.
Or you might need lime and be wasting money until you correct that problem.
Even two or three samples would give you a good indication.

Running a similar operation to yourself but have my own spreader - I think its important to be able to spread when you need it and I'd never spread any more than a bag to the acre at a time on grazing ground the exception being 10-10-20 after reseeding.

farmernewbie

Thanks Pharaoh,

I try to get a cut of silage out of most of it but the crop has been poor last few years. Maybe best to organise 2 or 3 samples on the silage ground.

Pharaoh1

farmernewbie wrote: »

Thanks Pharaoh,

I try to get a cut of silage out of most of it but the crop has been poor last few years. Maybe best to organise 2 or 3 samples on the silage ground.

Of course you would need to take the samples before you spread the fertiliser.
The core sampler designed for the job is handy - Teagasc advisor loaned it to me last year.
I did it before with a bit of half inch copper pipe going down 2-3 inches and mixing the samples.

rancher

freedominacup wrote: »

Min I'd have thought. Some dose when the guy has a 24m spread and is covering the acre in less than a minute. You really don't feel like you're getting value for money.

I get my fertiliser delivered and spread, he charges €60/hr from the time he arrives on the farm, does about 40 to50 ac/hr

just do it

farmernewbie wrote: »

Thanks Just_do_it,

Running a small operation so don't want to go do expensive soil tests. I won't be running an intensive operation just yet. Bought 18 yearlings at the wkd for 800 a pop. Weighing about 300 to 320kgs so happy enough with that. Seems some people are paying 900 to 1000 for similar weight ch and lim cattle.

soil test costs €17.50 per sample, that ain't dear! It's like asking a doctor what medication to use in the absence of a diagnosis!