Zero grazing

farisfat

Mf310 wrote: »

Just came across this thread while searching zerograzing, not sure how I completely missed it in September, a lot of knowledge in it. Done a nice bit of zerograzing this year from the contractor , stocked on milking platform here at 3.5/HA and will be at 4/HA next year. The Cost of getting zero grazing done by contractor has drove me to the decision of buying something myself next year or changing system to multicut silage as MJ says. 75€ inc vat per load came just under €4000, for 50 loads of grass I felt it was steep and would make a fair repayment on a zerograzer or as Im doing so few loads even a good second hand at 15000€ would be value. Ive also buffer fed throughout the year with high dmd quality bales and felt cows performed better on it and it definitely helped keep yields up rather than drawing wet loads of grass in August/September.
My only thing against the multi cut silage system is residuals in paddocks , id be thinking it would be impossible to get cows to graze out paddocks when id be buffer feeding with the quality silage? Would be interested to hear about your system MJ and Jaymla would I be right in saying your both heavily stocked?

I used to do both of the above.
Now i spent my spare time surfing and hill walking.
I find it alot better for body and mind.
Stock the farm to what it can feed and dont chase marginal milk.

Tonynewholland

farisfat wrote: »

I used to do both of the above.
Now i spent my spare time surfing and hill walking.
I find it alot better for body and mind.
Stock the farm to what it can feed and dont chase marginal milk.

I agree. Farmers work hard enough already why look for more work and pay half of what you might save on tax

Mooooo

kevthegaff wrote: »

Alot of tb around a few areas not so far from the farm, seems it's more prevalent among herds that zgraze alot. Obviously these herds are higher stocked and possibly less space in the shed, but I'm thinking theres something to it

Could be a case of spending more time ar the feedface and badgers coming into the yard to the pit or feed face. Beet, maize pits etc would want to be protected from access by them

Farmer2017

Mooooo wrote: »

Could be a case of spending more time ar the feedface and badgers coming into the yard to the pit or feed face. Beet, maize pits etc would want to be protected from access by them

Got contractor to zero graze 12 loads in late Oct/November. More hassle than it was worth. Depending on contractor to turn up and turn up at all hrs. If again I prefer to bale. As for tb with zero graze I heard of that before. I be thinking it more to do with the cows not picking out the dirty grass. But by more rampant everywhere now. I personally won’t do r do much zero grazing again it was a real pain in the ass

richie123

Bass Reeves wrote: »

I can never understand farmers facination with another man making a margin. The 75/load includes diseal and labour. Assuming the contractor is vat rated, there is about 9 euro in vat one the 75 euro. I am assuming there is 1.5 hours work to the contractor, most tractor drivers if fulltime with a contractor are on 15/ hour. Add on holiday pay and employer PRSI it's at least a 20/hour cost. So vat and labour is making up over half the cost.

This idea that 4k a s serious money towards machinery is not really looking at the picture long term. Usually lads underestimate the price of what they are buying. A contractor machine is bigger and his tractor is bigger and faster, as well maintenance is his specialty. If something happens to the machine you will struggle to fix it fast enough to keep you grass drawn to the cows..

But looking at it logically the machine will probably cost you more than 15K, even without interest it will be 4 years net before running costs before pay back. The machine you buy will be smaller than a contractor machine and will require 7-8 loads where he is doing 5 runs. If you require 50 loads done by him it will be 75 by your machine maybe more. You are looking at adding up to one hundred hours onto your workload every year. By the time diesel and tractor as well as machinery wear and tear is allowed for you are looking at a 6 year pay back. Valuing your time at 10 euro per hour pushes payback out to 10 years. I am not sure if I work a a thousand hours for 10 euro an hour to own a bit of scrap at the end of ten years

You planning to up your stocking levels if the business cannot stand the cost of paying contracting where it makes sense forget about expansion. Zero grazing will be on the shoulders of the year mostly in spring you be under pressure. WTF would you, there is too many idiots in the game as it is why join them. Lads pouring ration down cattle's gullet's all winter to give Larry beef with no margin.

Remember it a long way to 70 years of age and you could be farming that long

Bass excellent post.just to add a small bit to it.
Machines I call them.men who work themselves to the bone to end up with **** all extra and a bigger tax bill.the same men who'd laugh at you for going on a hike or a weekend away.
We have a lot of machines of men in this country doing far in excess of what's required and know nothing else.
Larry relies on these machines for his cheap supply of beef.
If we all cut back by just 5 per cent each.it would do wonders for farming.
Machines of men is what's destroying farming in this country.
Bite off only what you can chew comfortably.
No wonder mental health hip/knee replacement s and cardiovascular disease is so prevalent in farming.
Cut back, do it better and dont over extend yourself and don't begrudge a few pound to a relief milker or labourer.

mahoney_j

Great contractors around here ,lad with z grazer 50 per load dropped in yard.I did a bit in March and October November .no more and more hassle than worth grass is wet that time of year and more upsetting for Cow .way more bang for your buck with high quality high dm silage or Maize I’d never contemplate buying a z grazer and in future minimal contractor use .the marginal litres I don’t buy it but dependant on cow/management and ability of the cow to produce milk and kgms from the extra feed .I don’t get too hung up on Tegasc figures a guide nothing less lots of variables ,lots of costs omitted and assumptions and driving there own agendas

Mf310

Bass Reeves wrote: »

I can never understand farmers facination with another man making a margin. The 75/load includes diseal and labour. Assuming the contractor is vat rated, there is about 9 euro in vat one the 75 euro. I am assuming there is 1.5 hours work to the contractor, most tractor drivers if fulltime with a contractor are on 15/ hour. Add on holiday pay and employer PRSI it's at least a 20/hour cost. So vat and labour is making up over half the cost.

This idea that 4k a s serious money towards machinery is not really looking at the picture long term. Usually lads underestimate the price of what they are buying. A contractor machine is bigger and his tractor is bigger and faster, as well maintenance is his specialty. If something happens to the machine you will struggle to fix it fast enough to keep you grass drawn to the cows..

But looking at it logically the machine will probably cost you more than 15K, even without interest it will be 4 years net before running costs before pay back. The machine you buy will be smaller than a contractor machine and will require 7-8 loads where he is doing 5 runs. If you require 50 loads done by him it will be 75 by your machine maybe more. You are looking at adding up to one hundred hours onto your workload every year. By the time diesel and tractor as well as machinery wear and tear is allowed for you are looking at a 6 year pay back. Valuing your time at 10 euro per hour pushes payback out to 10 years. I am not sure if I work a a thousand hours for 10 euro an hour to own a bit of scrap at the end of ten years

You planning to up your stocking levels if the business cannot stand the cost of paying contracting where it makes sense forget about expansion. Zero grazing will be on the shoulders of the year mostly in spring you be under pressure. WTF would you, there is too many idiots in the game as it is why join them. Lads pouring ration down cattle's gullet's all winter to give Larry beef with no margin.

Remember it a long way to 70 years of age and you could be farming that long

I take it your not a dairy farmer bass, I actually wouldnt agree with your comments at all. Contractor takes no longer than 45 minutes from leaving his yard to being back in his yard after my load id be of the thinking the 75€ is money for jam. If i bought my own machine itd only take 30 minutes out of my day to go for a load and tractor is already here mostly idle at back end of year anyway. and I have the convenience of doing it when I want to , before it begins to rain rather than him coming after it has poured rain or him coming 10 minutes before I go to start milking. I agree that il be doing more loads with my own machine and if I had my own machine id probably even stock the farm higher maybe up to 6 cows/ha on the milking platform and be going with it even more so .

Planning to up stocking levels yes but I never said the business cant stand the cost of paying for contracting, I just feel id make more money by cutting him out of it and maximise my profits here. Its a business we are in after all. There is surplus grass being cut here all throughout the summer which is hardship , im of the thinking its far easier manage a highly stocked farm rather than taking paddocks out here and there every week. Its also very easy to buffer feed when set up right. I wouldnt actually call any dairy farmer an idiot to be zerograzing or feeding meal?

See another comment there not to be chasing marginal milk. Is a bit of buffer feeding in the spring and autumn marginal milk? Questionable. Regardless there is going to be buffer feeding needed to be done in the shoulders of the year , some of the most profitable dairy farms are the ones stocked at 4/ha and over.

Mf310

mahoney_j wrote: »

Great contractors around here ,lad with z grazer 50 per load dropped in yard.I did a bit in March and October November .no more and more hassle than worth grass is wet that time of year and more upsetting for Cow .way more bang for your buck with high quality high dm silage or Maize I’d never contemplate buying a z grazer and in future minimal contractor use .the marginal litres I don’t buy it but dependant on cow/management and ability of the cow to produce milk and kgms from the extra feed .I don’t get too hung up on Tegasc figures a guide nothing less lots of variables ,lots of costs omitted and assumptions and driving there own agendas

Just seen your post now MJ , 50 a load is a far sounder deal for what zerograzing is. Id agree with your comments based on october/november and that cows benefit far more from the high dmd silage, complements the grazed grass far better too. Yeah I think it would be a good route to go down next year maybe do multicut silage off outfarm instead of zgrazing. Might do a small bit during a drought but other than that I think the high quality bales could be a better shout. Bought a bale shear this year too so bales are no extra hassle once they are in the yard. Holstein/freisian cows on farm here and id be of the same consideration youll get back what you put into them and more in the line of high quality silage/meal , cows on 2kg/day throughout year here but going to up that next year especially for early lactation/breeding and vary it for summer then , teagascs model is not a one size fits all , more than one way to milk a cow and for fragmented farms I think stocking the milking platform at 4/5 cows to the ha and buffer feed is the way to go until they try stop us at that too.

mahoney_j

Mf310 wrote: »

I take it your not a dairy farmer bass, I actually wouldnt agree with your comments at all. Contractor takes no longer than 45 minutes from leaving his yard to being back in his yard after my load id be of the thinking the 75€ is money for jam. If i bought my own machine itd only take 30 minutes out of my day to go for a load and tractor is already here mostly idle at back end of year anyway. and I have the convenience of doing it when I want to , before it begins to rain rather than him coming after it has poured rain or him coming 10 minutes before I go to start milking. I agree that il be doing more loads with my own machine and if I had my own machine id probably even stock the farm higher maybe up to 6 cows/ha on the milking platform and be going with it even more so .

Planning to up stocking levels yes but I never said the business cant stand the cost of paying for contracting, I just feel id make more money by cutting him out of it and maximise my profits here. Its a business we are in after all. There is surplus grass being cut here all throughout the summer which is hardship , im of the thinking its far easier manage a highly stocked farm rather than taking paddocks out here and there every week. Its also very easy to buffer feed when set up right. I wouldnt actually call any dairy farmer an idiot to be zerograzing or feeding meal?

See another comment there not to be chasing marginal milk. Is a bit of buffer feeding in the spring and autumn marginal milk? Questionable. Regardless there is going to be buffer feeding needed to be done in the shoulders of the year , some of the most profitable dairy farms are the ones stocked at 4/ha and over.

Buffer fed cows right to mid June this year with high quality bales butterfats proteins all up in previous years despite what you’d read about silage killing proteins and affecting clean outs

Markcheese

Anyone using a baler to zero graze ? https://youtu.be/i6mWOA0u9hI

You'd need to mow first obviously , but the same kit would do during summer for baling , the bale trolly on the back would allow you carry 4 bales off the field at once , wether you carry them home on the rig ,or put them on a bale trailer ..

tanko

That's some field but i can just imagine that outfit on those tyres in a wet hilly field around here.
It would be a laugh.

cute geoge

I can understand both sides of the argument about zero grazing .I know a lad highly stocked who has done it for years with his own gear finally given it up and said at the end of the day figures dont stand up and he has buffered maize ,beet .He reckons top quality silage and a bit of meal for the amount of cows a place can carry comfortable is hard to beat .I suppose when you are young an extra hour zero grazing for self only shows a bit of extra enthusiam .Another fella I know spent 10 years at it and he sold his machine after this time for 75% of the cost .So it definitely would not pay to give a lad E75 to bring a load no matter what spin Bass reeves puts on the story

Water John

Interesting rig. If you bale fresh grass, you'll have to break them out straight away as they'll start to heat.
Where a rig like it has a place is, so many farmers often themselves mow a strong paddock with an 8/10 ft mower. The contractor then has to either drive around the field to bale 10/12 bales or else bring a rake to swarth the 4 acres, then go back with the baler to do 12 bales. A rake in front would be a great option but cannot see it being allowed in that format on a public road.

GrasstoMilk

Markcheese wrote: »

Anyone using a baler to zero graze ? https://youtu.be/i6mWOA0u9hI

You'd need to mow first obviously , but the same kit would do during summer for baling , the bale trolly on the back would allow you carry 4 bales off the field at once , wether you carry them home on the rig ,or put them on a bale trailer ..

Couldn't think of anything worse to be at tbh, you'd be tied to the farm every day of the year
I had thoughts of buying a zero grazer before and up sr around to MP to 5 but again extra concrete, sheds, cost of extra cows, time and needing at least a part time labour unit those 40 cows wouldn't be half as profitable as the current herd, thats marginal milk to me
Running around all year for what?

Now it's probably more profitable than anything else you could do with that ground apart from leasing it out

Tonynewholland

Markcheese wrote: »

Anyone using a baler to zero graze ? https://youtu.be/i6mWOA0u9hI

You'd need to mow first obviously , but the same kit would do during summer for baling , the bale trolly on the back would allow you carry 4 bales off the field at once , wether you carry them home on the rig ,or put them on a bale trailer ..

I’ve never fed zero grazed grass but I did feed fresh bales they didn’t seem to like them very much. I’m not sure if the baler damages the grass more but it starts to heat very quickly

Water John

If you crack the grass in any way, it heats up quicker. Needs to be handled gently.

Bass Reeves

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Couldn't think of anything worse to be at tbh, you'd be tied to the farm every day of the year
I had thoughts of buying a zero grazer before and up sr around to MP to 5 but again extra concrete, sheds, cost of extra cows, time and needing at least a part time labour unit those 40 cows wouldn't be half as profitable as the current herd, thats marginal milk to me
Running around all year for what?

Now it's probably more profitable than anything else you could do with that ground apart from leasing it out

The problem with expansion at present is the way regulations are changing. You could spend money now and have to go double or quits in 2-5yesrs to maintain that level.if stocking.

Nitrates per cow are increasingly from 85/cow to 100/cow over next 3-5 years. As well there is talk of the EPA becoming involved in nitrates management for those in derogation similar to intensive pigs and chicken farmers. Add in that there is hint that platform stocking rates are coming in as well maybe at 3.5 cows/HA. When cost is added to any system you need to see a return in sub five years. There was another one flying 12-18 months ago where for larger turnovers flat rate vat refunds would be stopped. That has the potential to take nearly 2c/L off high solids milk.

Mf310

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Couldn't think of anything worse to be at tbh, you'd be tied to the farm every day of the year
I had thoughts of buying a zero grazer before and up sr around to MP to 5 but again extra concrete, sheds, cost of extra cows, time and needing at least a part time labour unit those 40 cows wouldn't be half as profitable as the current herd, thats marginal milk to me
Running around all year for what?

Now it's probably more profitable than anything else you could do with that ground apart from leasing it out

You’d be heavily stocked as is wouldnt you? Id be of the opinion the farm is fully capable of 4.5/5/Ha here during the summer and that itd actually be easier to manage as I wouldnt be at surplus everywhere the whole time and Id be getting better use of out land on the outfarm by either zerograzing for the milking platform or high quality bales..

Its down to scale id be thinking those extra 40 cows mightnt be half as profitable but its that extra profit can pay for that extra labour unit and give you time off so that as you say your not tied to the farm every day of the year.

Markcheese

As with most things in life there's a balance ,

The farm I work at got a lad with a zero grazer for a week or so this autumn , did a good job , ( used it to extend cheese making on farm by a week or so ) ,
It wasn't cheap though . but you can't expect a contractor to have the machinery there just "for a week " ,
If there's grass to be zero grazed in spring they'll probably have another go at it ..
The big plus on a heavy soil farm would be having a contractor available for that really bad spring ,when there's some grass ,but it's too wet to graze ... And the silage is running out ....

Mooooo

I dunno about the heavy ground part. If you can get a tractor and trailer into a field, surely cows could be brought in using the correct techniques. Zero grazing in the shoulders off outside blocks would have a place but the few I know who were at it during the summer have all switched to cutting silage normally after 6 weeks growth for quality

Cattlepen

richie123 wrote: »

Bass excellent post.just to add a small bit to it.
Machines I call them.men who work themselves to the bone to end up with **** all extra and a bigger tax bill.the same men who'd laugh at you for going on a hike or a weekend away.
We have a lot of machines of men in this country doing far in excess of what's required and know nothing else.
Larry relies on these machines for his cheap supply of beef.
If we all cut back by just 5 per cent each.it would do wonders for farming.
Machines of men is what's destroying farming in this country.
Bite off only what you can chew comfortably.
No wonder mental health hip/knee replacement s and cardiovascular disease is so prevalent in farming.
Cut back, do it better and dont over extend yourself and don't begrudge a few pound to a relief milker or labourer.

Best post so far IMO. Bass is also 100%correct

Timmaay

Markcheese wrote: »

Anyone using a baler to zero graze ? https://youtu.be/i6mWOA0u9hI

You'd need to mow first obviously , but the same kit would do during summer for baling , the bale trolly on the back would allow you carry 4 bales off the field at once , wether you carry them home on the rig ,or put them on a bale trailer ..

I've got 10ac 2miles down the road which has no water, poor fencing and a landlord who isn't keen on grazing, I usually take 3 cuts a year off it, but the April cut is usually sh1te, growing since the previous September and hard to get grass to wilt anyway proper in April, too few hours of sun, so I'm half thinking of baling it up any dry opportunity in March and feed straight into the milkers and calves immediately. Anyone see any major issues with that?

mahoney_j

Timmaay wrote: »

I've got 10ac 2miles down the road which has no water, poor fencing and a landlord who isn't keen on grazing, I usually take 3 cuts a year off it, but the April cut is usually sh1te, growing since the previous September and hard to get grass to wilt anyway proper in April, too few hours of sun, so I'm half thinking of baling it up any dry opportunity in March and feed straight into the milkers and calves immediately. Anyone see any major issues with that?

None of baling and feeding within no more than few hours ,u no one locally with z grazer on hire ??

GrasstoMilk

Timmaay wrote: »

I've got 10ac 2miles down the road which has no water, poor fencing and a landlord who isn't keen on grazing, I usually take 3 cuts a year off it, but the April cut is usually sh1te, growing since the previous September and hard to get grass to wilt anyway proper in April, too few hours of sun, so I'm half thinking of baling it up any dry opportunity in March and feed straight into the milkers and calves immediately. Anyone see any major issues with that?

Cut it the first week of May when it has a bit more structure
Made our first cut this year the 10th of May, wasn't grazed at all
Cane out at 78 dmd and 12me
Cows milked really well on it in the back end, hopefully have enough to get us through spring now

Who2

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Cut it the first week of May when it has a bit more structure
Made our first cut this year the 10th of May, wasn't grazed at all
Cane out at 78 dmd and 12me
Cows milked really well on it in the back end, hopefully have enough to get us through spring now

I done five acres the same around that date. Came in 72 at 14% protein, it will be getting the same treatment this year too.

Tonynewholland

Timmaay wrote: »

I've got 10ac 2miles down the road which has no water, poor fencing and a landlord who isn't keen on grazing, I usually take 3 cuts a year off it, but the April cut is usually sh1te, growing since the previous September and hard to get grass to wilt anyway proper in April, too few hours of sun, so I'm half thinking of baling it up any dry opportunity in March and feed straight into the milkers and calves immediately. Anyone see any major issues with that?

I did it once. Wouldn’t do it again especially in spring when cows are milking well. They just don’t like to eat fresh grass out of a baler

Dinzee Conlee

richie123 wrote: »

Bass excellent post.just to add a small bit to it.
Machines I call them.men who work themselves to the bone to end up with **** all extra and a bigger tax bill.the same men who'd laugh at you for going on a hike or a weekend away.
We have a lot of machines of men in this country doing far in excess of what's required and know nothing else.
Larry relies on these machines for his cheap supply of beef.
If we all cut back by just 5 per cent each.it would do wonders for farming.
Machines of men is what's destroying farming in this country.
Bite off only what you can chew comfortably.
No wonder mental health hip/knee replacement s and cardiovascular disease is so prevalent in farming.
Cut back, do it better and dont over extend yourself and don't begrudge a few pound to a relief milker or labourer.

Could you apply the same to part time farmers?
Like - lads who might have good off farm jobs and just come home to farm for no reason, other than to be machines of men?
Sure they might take some holidays - but couldn’t they just work the standard 9-5 and be happy with that?

I am not sure what the answer to improve beef farming is, but I don’t think placing it at the door of lads who are killing themselves with work is the answer? Especially when it could be argued that a lot of lads on this forum probably don’t depend on farming to put bread on the table - it’s only icing on the cake for them...

richie123

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

Could you apply the same to part time farmers?
Like - lads who might have good off farm jobs and just come home to farm for no reason, other than to be machines of men?
Sure they might take some holidays - but couldn’t they just work the standard 9-5 and be happy with that?

I am not sure what the answer to improve beef farming is, but I don’t think placing it at the door of lads who are killing themselves with work is the answer? Especially when it could be argued that a lot of lads on this forum probably don’t depend on farming to put bread on the table - it’s only icing on the cake for them...

Ah no Im not talking about men/women with partime jobs who farm on the side
Or even lads with large finishing units or 400 500 cows..it's the men that basically do it all themselves work every minute of every day, a family at home they never see.
They know no better.there life revolves around work and nothing else.we all know who they are and there in every parish in the country.
No one else can do it has to be done by themselves..that sort of attitude.
Doing the work of 3 or 4 people and it's a race to to the bottom.
Pointless.

Bass Reeves

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

Could you apply the same to part time farmers?
Like - lads who might have good off farm jobs and just come home to farm for no reason, other than to be machines of men?
Sure they might take some holidays - but couldn’t they just work the standard 9-5 and be happy with that?

I am not sure what the answer to improve beef farming is, but I don’t think placing it at the door of lads who are killing themselves with work is the answer? Especially when it could be argued that a lot of lads on this forum probably don’t depend on farming to put bread on the table - it’s only icing on the cake for them...

Ya it could be a.partine lad. It could be a small builder. I heard a story of a husband and wife one a guard the other a nurse. They were the same age to a few months. They worked opposite shifts so that they did not pay childcare. They worked any I overtime available. One was coming in the door the other going out.

After 40+ years they had to retire and did so within weeks of each other. They had nothing in common and separated after six months. The only time they had really been with each other in the last 40 years would be during holidays. Generally as the kids were younger they only took a week to 10 days together again to avoid childcare during the summer.

richie123 wrote: »

Ah no Im not talking about men/women with partime jobs who farm on the side
Or even lads with large finishing units or 400 500 cows..it's the men that basically do it all themselves work every minute of every day, a family at home they never see.
They know no better.there life revolves around work and nothing else.we all know who they are and there in every parish in the country.
No one else can do it has to be done by themselves..that sort of attitude.
Doing the work of 3 or 4 people and it's a race to to the bottom.
Pointless.

Ya it more noticeable in farming or the building industry. Lads that work themselves to the bone.

However I am not alluding to that regarding a zero grazer or a slurry spreading. In dairying when you get to a certain scale you cannot do everything yourself. It is as often as economical to hire in both the man and the machine as try to have part-time labour. This lad needs a margin on contracting just as much as you need it in milk. Buying a machine to do 50-100 hours a week or less makes no sense to me.

There is an issue in that most contractors are running 150 hp tractors therefore now any machine attached to them is costing 50+/ hour. This is causing some contracting work to be more expensive than it should as a bigger more expensive machine dose not necessarily mean that you are doing X amount more work to justify the extra cost. However in zero Frazer's most contractors are going for bigger machines than a farmer would buy

Tonynewholland

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Ya it could be a.partine lad. It could be a small builder. I heard a story of a husband and wife one a guard the other a nurse. They were the same age to a few months. They worked opposite shifts so that they did not pay childcare. They worked any I overtime available. One was coming in the door the other going out.

After 40+ years they had to retire and did so within weeks of each other. They had nothing in common and separated after six months. The only time they had really been with each other in the last 40 years would be during holidays. Generally as the kids were younger they only took a week to 10 days together again to avoid childcare during the summer.






Ya it more noticeable in farming or the building industry. Lads that work themselves to the bone.

However I am not alluding to that regarding a zero grazer or a slurry spreading. In dairying when you get to a certain scale you cannot do everything yourself. It is as often as economical to hire in both the man and the machine as try to have part-time labour. This lad needs a margin on contracting just as much as you need it in milk. Buying a machine to do 50-100 hours a week or less makes no sense to me.

There is an issue in that most contractors are running 150 hp tractors therefore now any machine attached to them is costing 50+/ hour. This is causing some contracting work to be more expensive than it should as a bigger more expensive machine dose not necessarily mean that you are doing X amount more work to justify the extra cost. However in zero Frazer's most contractors are going for bigger machines than a farmer would buy

Everyone is different some people love work and it’s what makes them happy.