Swath Grazing-Does it Pay?

[ASRG]

Allfarmer: How many pounds of hay do you feed/cow? What does it cost/lb.?
How do you keep cows from not pulling hay out of the bunk?

[ALLFARMER]

The cows don't pull hay out of the bunk because
we don't pile the hay over about 22" ....the height
of the bottom neck bar. We are feeding Timothy
brome alfalfa mix. The stuff we bought for 60$/ea
delivered. The boughten hay is about a 1/3 of the
total bales we have on hand....the other home
grown. The bales are around 1250 lbs feeding 3
bales of hay/day but with improved cattle
condition cutting back to 2.5/day....109 head. So
2.5 x 60$ / 109 so ya $1.39/hd/day. That also
means we're paying ourselves 60$/bale for our
own hay. Started feeding Oct 19th likely finish
May 20th so ya likely 217 feeding days this year.
Started feeding 8 days earlier this fall because of
the lack of rain. So $301.63 just for winter feeding
hay cost. Tractor burns like 2 tanks/fuel/winter so
it's costing us more to drive to church on
Sundays. My calves averaged 725$ this fall.

[ALLFARMER]

O ya we shred 1 bale per 100' of bunk fence
which serves 50 head.

[grassfarmer]

$301.63 if you don't count the extra half bale they
have up until now/recently. October 17-December 16
adds another $16.60. You said 20 minutes I believe
to feed the cows daily so x 217 days = 72hours. AB
agriculture custom rates show tractor and straw
blower for covering slurry lagoons indicate $135/hr
in 2010 so that would add $90 per cow to the winter
cost and that's before you start on manure removal or
paying for the feed bunk. The other 148 days a year
we can assume they are grazing at 95 cents? a day
value which adds another $140. So we are up to $550
before allowing for replacement cost/depreciation of
animals, medical expenses, salt/minerals etc etc. How
many $725 calves do you need to sell to make any
kind of net income to support a family off cattle -
especially when you take into account the $500 calf
prices experienced in recent years. Just doesn't pencil
for me.

[grassfarmer]

Another thought - 217 days X 109 cows not placing
their own manure/urine where it should be, evenly
spread on pasture - value lost @30c/hd/day. Net loss
$7095.

[ALLFARMER]

A 15k tractor and a 15k bale shredder charged
out at $135/hr??? I better go I have a lagoon to
cover. Lol

[ASRG]

I've always had a problem getting my head around machinery expense for the cattle end of things?
Because I just use a tractor/grapple I basically just use fuel and oil changes etc., which of course is not really correct at all. The original cost/interest/depreciation as well as tires/repairs should also be assigned a cost.
There also should be a labour cost? I mean who wants to work for free?
Maybe if I did all that.....I might find out I am actually losing money?
I think if I could get $60 for a 1250 lb. of hay on a consistant basis....I'd be better off growing hay!
On another note: My friend who is in the hay business, rented 480 acres that had been in grass for over twenty years. It was a mess with thistles, absinthe, yarrow, etc. He had it custom broke $100/acre(plowed and lightly roto-tilled), round up ready canola, custom sprayed, 60% hail damage payout....and it still went 30 bu.! He said he did okay on it, but much less than what he makes on hay! He is mostly selling to the race horse business in the States this year with some orders to Japan. He has a hay plant where they compress the hay. He also buys hay from various producers.