JD 946

[gaucho]

Not sure how I got pulled into this but here is my 2 bits.... I agree if you are going to hay go for 1 good cut and graze the 2nd cut... I hardly ever see if being worth while 2 cut a 2nd cut and Allfarmer there are more droughts up your way than 2 cuts so not sure how to justify 2nd cut every year.

We use haying to manage pasture that gets away on us and to utilize some cheap rented land that we can not get cows on to. There is no dedicated land for hay production. If you put the full the pencil to it>>> between land rent / opportunity value, machinery operating cost, labor, depreciation, risk, and fertility replacement $60-70 / ton delivered hay is a hell of a deal... why screw up your whole summer haying.

When you buy the hay you also see a real cash cost and get over the idea and learn to manage that cows and pasture so they don't need 6 bales for the winter. It makes you conscious to be a better grass manager... 4 times out of 5 our cows graze stockpiled grass till mid to late December and are back on it by start of April. This year heavy early snow so all are bale grazing (cows are packing the calves till February)... by the way I think this is how you should maximize the potential of bale grazing because you really are over feeding cows. We bought 3500 bales this year and don't regret a penny we had to pay the guys for it.

SPCA / AFAC... yes when you do things out of the box there are a few that have a hard time accepting new ways of doing things... that said its priceless seeing the accusers turn red when the vets say you are doing a good job

[ALLFARMER]

Some of the hay I bought was from Richie Bros
gp sale sold for $15 bale so ya hay was abundant
in that area. Here it's 65 to 70$. I think what I
learned this year is carry over extra hay instead of
selling it off.

Congrats on your purchase Gaucho, odviously a
good buy. Did you notice the 2 new Brandt silage
mix wagons consigned to this Wednesdays Richie
GP sale? Not sure if I am going yet. There is a NH
359 that if it sells cheap I may be interested it.

[gaucho]

Sorry I could care less about Iron at the GP RB sale.... the less iron the better... hide, soil and grass is what gets me excited

[grassfarmer]

Trailed 90 pairs home today that have been on some
"opportunity" rented pasture for the last 3 weeks.
Dormant perennial pasture supplemented by grazing
alfalfa regrowth in the next field. Worked out to
56c/pair/day for the grazing plus 3 hours setting
up/taking down temporary electric fence.
That kind of deal excites me - machinery and
designing systems around feeding cows for 200
days not so much.
Get the calves weaned this week and cows should still
have close 6-7 weeks of winter grazing ahead of
them.

[ASRG]

gaucho: Liked the article on you in the recent Alberta Beef magazine. Good to see you are getting some recognition for your "thinking outside the box".

ALLFARMER: It's good to be young and in expansion mode...it's an exciting time in life! And yea...toys for boys can be a lot of fun! Keep your pencil sharp and always ask yourself "Do I really need this? How often will I use it? Can I rent it cheaper than buying it?"
But....at the end of the day.....it is your money...you earned it and you can spend it however you think works best for you!

[ALLFARMER]

It's good to see we're all at a level were we can
communicate respectfully.

Off to go see my girls!

[grassfarmer]

Here's another thought if you have money burning a
hole in your pocket allfarmer.
A friend of mine in Idaho who is in the cattle business
full time (over 1000 cows) has forward contracted this
years heifer calf crop as fats for next December at
$150/cwt as long as they are under 1600lb live. Now
these are reputation cattle and will qualify for a
"natural" program but none the less that's quite the
price. I believe he said he has September corn booked
at $6.50 putting cost of gain at $1.30-$1.40.

So if cattle can be contracted for this high a price for
a year from now in the US what's the potential for
Canada? The US obviously has it's feed challenges
between now and then but in western Canada we
really don't - ample feed to background calves using
a lot of forage, ample pasture for next summer and
barley to lock in at what price next fall? Even with
basis difference the price someone is prepared to
forward contract cattle at in the US for next fall would
lead me to believe the current calves are maybe way
undervalued here.
Maybe that would be a better buy than a piece of
metal that will lose a lot of it's value the moment it
drives off the dealers lot?