Round bale silage costs

charolais0153 · 28-11-2020 11:08pm

Bass Reeves wrote: »

In theory it sounds good there is a few issues however.

First you have to source decent silage a lot of silage sold will just be bulk. Land that is not fertlilized adequately this effects cutting date, quality and there can be a lot of weeds in it. I wouldn't claim to be making top quality silage but only once in the last 10 years have I bought silage as good or better than my own.

Next is in a year where silage is scarce you will pay above feed value for silage if you can get it. Take two years ago with drought nobody was selling silage. In September I heard prices of 32-35/bake out of the yard. Add transport at 5+/ bale if travelling a distance and with middling DM silage you have an expensive feed. You then end up messing with straights or beet with the added cost and hassle.

Finally you have the hassle of sourcing and getting it delivered you probably. End up hauling a lot of it yourself. I use about 220 bales of high DM silage this year. It unlikely that I get similar for sale if they were lower DM I have to source and get delivered 300ish bales. That 21 loads to a lad delivering 14 at a time. Best case scenario would be less than two hour going, loading, returning and unloading. Maybe 3 loads ever two weeks. In theory you might source it at cutting time but. Unlikly you source it all that way.

It totally different to sourcing a few loads when stuck at the end of the year. Over the years I have found that the price of the silage is inversely proportionally to the price paid. Last year I got 50 bales delivered at 24/vale.4-4 years ago the year of the late spring I paid 40+5delivery for fairly poor quality silage but I only bough enough to provide roughage as I fed 2-2kgs od ration with it

Any amount of Sialge around here for 10euro a bale and bale it yourself, make it as dry as you like, perfect for suckler cows,

Buy silage in summer no point buying silage in spring, mugs game

memorystick · 28-11-2020 11:16pm

What’s the minimum amount of cattle recommend for a pit? I’ve 60 stores getting bales. I’d 100 last winter but BEAM. Should I stick to bales if consistently keeping 70-80 cattle for the winter? Thanks. Sick of bales but have zero concrete so would have to put down a slab.

Bass Reeves · 28-11-2020 11:20pm

memorystick wrote: »

What’s the minimum amount of cattle recommend for a pit? I’ve 60 stores getting bales. I’d 100 last winter but BEAM. Should I stick to bales if consistently keeping 70-80 cattle for the winter? Thanks. Sick of bales but have zero concrete so would have to put down a slab.

Bale silage is cheaper than pit silage to make at present. Thats even before your Allie for price for slab

Water John · 28-11-2020 11:22pm

memorystick wrote: »

What’s the minimum amount of cattle recommend for a pit? I’ve 60 stores getting bales. I’d 100 last winter but BEAM. Should I stick to bales if consistently keeping 70-80 cattle for the winter? Thanks. Sick of bales but have zero concrete so would have to put down a slab.

What's that 3 bales a day? Have the right equipment to handle them. Hard core base should do. A good contractor is essential if using one.

Grueller · 28-11-2020 11:30pm

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Bale silage is cheaper than pit silage to make at present. Thats even before your Allie for price for slab

8 bales/ac is break even here.

Reggie. · 28-11-2020 11:41pm

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Bale silage is cheaper than pit silage to make at present. Thats even before your Allie for price for slab

Plus practically no waste

Dakota Dan · 29-11-2020 10:45am

Dunedin wrote: »

I’ve being buying 80-100 off my contractor for the past few years. It is a field that was reseeded so I’ve had it since it was reseeded. I tell him when to cut it which is usually mid May weather pending around that time so it’s top quality. Delivered and stacked in my yard for €25 - I couldn’t do it for that never mind the hardship of drawing in 100 bales.

Complete no brainer as far as I’m concerned but most probably wouldn’t get an opportunity like that.

That’s great value my contractor charged me 16.50 a bale last year to bale, wrap short draw and stack my own silage and there was mowing on top of that.

Bass Reeves · 29-11-2020 10:52am

Dakota Dan wrote: »

That’s great value my contractor charged me 16.50 a bale last year to bale, wrap short draw and stack my own silage and there was mowing on top of that.

Contractor charges 10/ bale to mow, take bake and wrap. I provide plastic and additive. He uses one of the new balers which has the bake count dropped by 2 bales per acre. As I let it will fit 2-3 days depending on weather a bale would last 32-35 stores 400 kg a day.

keepalive213 · 29-11-2020 12:05pm

9 euro a bale here to mow, bale and wrap... farmer supplies plastic.
Plus around a fiver for fertilizer works out over 18 euro
It's still better than buying lucky bags.

Reggie. · 29-11-2020 12:13pm

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Contractor charges 10/ bale to mow, take bake and wrap. I provide plastic and additive. He uses one of the new balers which has the bake count dropped by 2 bales per acre. As I let it will fit 2-3 days depending on weather a bale would last 32-35 stores 400 kg a day.

Mow bale and wrap incl plastic is €10 here. €10 extra an acre to rake

Dakota Dan · 29-11-2020 1:12pm

Reggie. wrote: »

Mow bale and wrap incl plastic is €10 here. €10 extra an acre to rake

My contractor charges €12 just to bale and wrap with a fusion incl wrap, he’s charging that the last 3 years.

Reggie. · 29-11-2020 1:27pm

Dakota Dan wrote: »

My contractor charges €12 just to bale and wrap with a fusion incl wrap, he’s charging that the last 3 years.

Money being made there

charolais0153 · 29-11-2020 2:05pm

Reggie. wrote: »

Mow bale and wrap incl plastic is €10 here. €10 extra an acre to rake

Same here, raking incl at that 10er

Reggie. · 29-11-2020 2:11pm

charolais0153 wrote: »

Same here, raking incl at that 10er

Good value there

Grueller · 29-11-2020 2:44pm

My man is €6 for bale, wrap and stack. Bales are wrapped in the yard. I mow, ted, rake and draw myself.

tanko · 29-11-2020 3:09pm

Dakota Dan wrote: »

My contractor charges €12 just to bale and wrap with a fusion incl wrap, he’s charging that the last 3 years.

That's dear.
€12.50 to mow, rake and bale inc wrap with a fusion here. €10.50 without mowing.
There is another contractor in the area who is fifty cent a bale less and does nothing else only the baling job but it's harder to get him exactly when you want the job done.

50HX · 29-11-2020 3:14pm

7 euro to rake and bale

Buy my own plastic, 60ep/hr to draw with an 8 pack for first&2nd cut

Add just over 1e to the bale but dropped in the yard stack myself

893bet · 29-11-2020 3:19pm

Outside of our bales often poor.

Would an extra wrap make a big difference.

7.50 for silage bale and wrap
6 for hay, bale only

50HX · 29-11-2020 3:24pm

Is the bale well packed when made,

I think alot of people overlook the drawing of bales as well and ghe amount of handling required, extra wrap needed imo if bales are drawn with a bale trailer or being kept til following year

I see young lads on tbe road with double handler on the back and flying about, alot of pressure on the plastic in 2 points

I switched to 8 pack due to time constraints and twas the best thing i did.
Woukd consider it money well spent once draw is near

josephsoap · 29-11-2020 4:02pm

Contractor here charges €10 per bale - this includes mowing, raking, baling and wrapping.

Farmer supplies wrap and draws in the bales.

Dunedin · 29-11-2020 5:53pm

josephsoap wrote: »

Contractor here charges €10 per bale - this includes mowing, raking, baling and wrapping.

Farmer supplies wrap and draws in the bales.

Exact same here.

Reggie. · 29-11-2020 6:10pm

josephsoap wrote: »

Contractor here charges €10 per bale - this includes mowing, raking, baling and wrapping.

Farmer supplies wrap and draws in the bales.

Only about a euro in the difference

Bass Reeves · 29-11-2020 6:39pm

Reggie. wrote: »

Mow bale and wrap incl plastic is €10 here. €10 extra an acre to rake

That a good price even if it with a 'dini. You probably chance the embarrassment and let the contractor priced at that in. ðŸ˜‚ðŸ˜‚

Country life · 29-11-2020 7:59pm

Cut silage with the big M this year.cut on the flat.cuts out tedding I find.. rake€10/arc. Baling €10.plastic not supplied . Just wrote out a cheque for 600 bales😡

BENDYBINN · 29-11-2020 9:05pm

Country life wrote: »

Cut silage with the big M this year.cut on the flat.cuts out tedding I find.. rake€10/arc. Baling €10.plastic not supplied . Just wrote out a cheque for 600 bales😡

Ger your own baler ....daft payin that.

Dunedin · 29-11-2020 9:14pm

BENDYBINN wrote: »

Ger your own baler ....daft payin that.

Serious amount of work yourself to make 600 bales. Firstly you’d need mower, Tedder/rake, baler/wrapper/combi and a second tractor if not a third to draw in and people to drive them. You couldn’t face into drawing in after baling. Help is near non-existent unlike years ago and lastly you’d pretty much have to be a full timer not possible to manage all of that if working off farm.

Cavanjack · 29-11-2020 9:58pm

Dunedin wrote: »

Serious amount of work yourself to make 600 bales. Firstly you’d need mower, Tedder/rake, baler/wrapper/combi and a second tractor if not a third to draw in and people to drive them. You couldn’t face into drawing in after baling. Help is near non-existent unlike years ago and lastly you’d pretty much have to be a full timer not possible to manage all of that if working off farm.

I know lads with their own balers that spend the summer baling especially at weekends. Then the slurry doesn’t be put out till a few weeks after the silage is cut. They are usually on their second cut when I have grass growing after a third cut. Saying that I am probably no better off than them after paying a contractor for everything.

Reggie. · 29-11-2020 10:00pm

Bass Reeves wrote: »

That a good price even if it with a 'dini. You probably chance the embarrassment and let the contractor priced at that in. ðŸ˜‚ðŸ˜‚

You bugger off back to your cave

Reggie. · 29-11-2020 10:01pm

Country life wrote: »

Cut silage with the big M this year.cut on the flat.cuts out tedding I find.. rake€10/arc. Baling €10.plastic not supplied . Just wrote out a cheque for 600 balesðŸ˜¡

Baling and wrapping €10?

FeelTheBern · 29-11-2020 10:13pm

josephsoap wrote: »

Contractor here charges €10 per bale - this includes mowing, raking, baling and wrapping.

Farmer supplies wrap and draws in the bales.

My contractor seems to be a good bit dearer than the prices quoted here - although hard to compare with the different pricing options. If I’m making it up correctly, at around 8 bales per acre it would be working out around €11.50/ bale to include - mow €25/acre, rake €10/acre, bale €7.50 acre without wrap. Obviously more per bale for less bales to acre.

Jb1989 · 29-11-2020 10:17pm

FeelTheBern wrote: »

My contractor seems to be a good bit dearer than the prices quoted here - although hard to compare with the different pricing options. If I’m making it up correctly, at around 8 bales per acre it would be working out around €11.50/ bale to include - mow €25/acre, rake €10/acre, bale €7.50 acre without wrap. Obviously more per bale for less bales to acre.

Does the 7.50 include the wrapper?

FeelTheBern · 30-11-2020 12:24am

Jb1989 wrote: »

Does the 7.50 include the wrapper?

Sorry - yes €7.50 bale and wrap with fusion baler - farmer supplies plastic

Bass Reeves · 30-11-2020 12:32am

Reggie. wrote: »

You bugger off back to your cave

A fella with a Class would be getting a euro a bale more........I hate to be paying a Massey contractor

Reggie. · 30-11-2020 12:40am

Bass Reeves wrote: »

A fella with a Class would be getting a euro a bale more........I hate to be paying a Massey contractor

Where are them bloody mods when ya need them......... asleep at the wheel again or playing with the hamsters????

alps · 30-11-2020 1:58am

Reggie. wrote: »

Where are them bloody mods when ya need them......... asleep at the wheel again or playing with the hamsters????

I see in other news that the Sherrif is most likely out at the local shebeen🥳🥳

roosterman71 · 01-12-2020 2:04pm

I've a nice 20 acre field (well 20.03 according to the maps), but we'll go with 20.

Slurry - 30 loads (2k gal tank) @45/hr (total 16 hours €720)
Fertiliser - none (I'm tight)
Mowing - €20/acre €400
Raking - €10 acre €200

Total to date for 20 acres - €1320
In 2020, this field was cut twice, so double the 1320 - €2640

Baling + Wrapping - €6.50/bale
Plastic ~ €2/bale

Field yielded 371 bales between 2 cuts.
371 x (6.50 + 2) = €3153.50

Total costs to get bales in the field is €4473.5. Or €12.05 per bale.

Bales sold. Any taken from the field by the buyer are €22, or delivered is €26.

All equipment above (apart from baler and wrapper) are my own. And the above prices are what I charge others, and therefore charge myself too. That covers my wage and machinery costs.

Think everything is costed there.

lakill Farm · 01-12-2020 4:27pm

my cost per bale is

€6.00 land cost per bale (€200/ 33 bales )
€2.60 Fert & slurry costs over 4 cuts

€0.65 bale net (2.00 rotations of net)
€2.00 silage wrap (16 wrap)
€1.40 2.25 litres MGO (mow ted rake, bale , wrap and stack) around yard
€0.25 consumables (Baler oil , grease, mower blades, tines ) etc

at a very basic price its costing me €12.90 a bale without taking into account machinery wear and tear or labour.

if im doing a bit of evening baling its
Mow €20, Ted /Rake €10 , Bale hay/unchopped silage €4.25 , Silage chopped €5 and wrap €2.50

French Toast · 01-12-2020 8:22pm

Mow, bale, wrap for €10 including VAT. Farmer supplies plastic.

If you were doing it for much less than that you'd have slim enough profits left after it.

Jd310 · 01-12-2020 9:55pm

I charge €10 a bale which includes raking,baling,wrapping with plastic supplied. Then €20/acre mowing on top of that.

Grueller · 01-12-2020 10:04pm

Jd310 wrote: »

I charge €10 a bale which includes raking,baling,wrapping with plastic supplied. Then €20/acre mowing on top of that.

Thinking out loud here at 8 bales per acre
Fert at €60 /ac is €7.50 per bale
Drawing in and stacking at €2 per bale
Mowing at €20 per acre is €2.50
Tedding about €1.50

That is €23.50 and nothing costed over the top at all.

Jd310 · 01-12-2020 10:09pm

Grueller wrote: »

Thinking out loud here at 8 bales per acre
Fert at €60 /ac is €7.50 per bale
Drawing in and stacking at €2 per bale
Mowing at €20 per acre is €2.50
Tedding about €1.50

That is €23.50 and nothing costed over the top at all.

Would that leave me dear or cheap for bailing

Grueller · 01-12-2020 11:08pm

Jd310 wrote: »

Would that leave me dear or cheap for bailing

My man is €6 but that doesn't include raking or plastic. Put plastic at €2 and raking at €1.50 and he is €9.50 so I'd say you are not too bad to be fair.

Water John · 01-12-2020 11:13pm

Roll of plastic does about 30 bales. Can you get a roll for €60?

French Toast · 01-12-2020 11:37pm

Water John wrote: »

Roll of plastic does about 30 bales. Can you get a roll for €60?

It has been closer to €75-85 for the past few years iirc.

Water John · 01-12-2020 11:40pm

That's what I've been paying for it, so maybe better to buy and not have the roll 'too stretched'.
Contractors may be passing on any bulk discount is another explanation.

Bass Reeves · 02-12-2020 9:39am

Water John wrote: »

That's what I've been paying for it, so maybe better to buy and not have the roll 'too stretched'.
Contractors may be passing on any bulk discount is another explanation.

I generally buy all my plastic together. I try to get Silawrap as it quality is more dependable than some other makes. Buying 10 rolls it was 78/roll this year. The other brands were 76/roll. That was for payment on the day. Lad is a contractor near me and he buy two pallets at the start of he year and 1-2 more later in the year he makes 7-800 bales himself. He paid the same as he was getting 3-4 months crefit.

AFAIK if you can go to the north to buy it it can be got for6-8/ roll( no recycling levy) less. Where the real saving in the north is if you can buy it without the VAT added on. However you would not want to be audited

Grueller · 02-12-2020 1:15pm

Bass Reeves wrote: »

I generally buy all my plastic together. I try to get Silawrap as it quality is more dependable than some other makes. Buying 10 rolls it was 78/roll this year. The other brands were 76/roll. That was for payment on the day. Lad is a contractor near me and he buy two pallets at the start of he year and 1-2 more later in the year he makes 7-800 bales himself. He paid the same as he was getting 3-4 months crefit.

AFAIK if you can go to the north to buy it it can be got for6-8/ roll( no recycling levy) less. Where the real saving in the north is if you can buy it without the VAT added on. However you would not want to be audited

Wait till it get tackled as a single use plastic and is taxed to the high heavens. I can't see it not happening. Single and double chops be pulled out of the sceachs everywhere.

lakill Farm · 02-12-2020 2:33pm

Water John wrote: »

That's what I've been paying for it, so maybe better to buy and not have the roll 'too stretched'.
Contractors may be passing on any bulk discount is another explanation.

Im buying it in the north for €59 a roll for silawrap

No big discount on bulk buys down south unless your buying a container load

Bass Reeves · 02-12-2020 2:40pm

Grueller wrote: »

Wait till it get tackled as a single use plastic and is taxed to the high heavens. I can't see it not happening. Single and double chops be pulled out of the sceachs everywhere.

Most industrial taxes are in the form of carbon taxes. Single use plastic taxes will be applied directly to consumers to force industry to change packaging types. Single use plastic if applied to farming would also effect ration and fertilizer and maybe at a higher cost. I can see carbon taxes increase plastic costs over the next10-20 however I cannot see a single use plastic tax dramatically causing a change in silage plastic usages

Water John · 02-12-2020 8:20pm

Whilst the wrap is made from virgin plastic, don't think it would be marked as single use. AFAIK and has a thread of its own, Stokbord is made from it. It's a thermoplastic (recyclable) as opposed to polystyrene which would be thermosetting (non recyclable) and thus cannot be recycled.

Round bale silage costs

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