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Now that you know the large collection of things that we have on the farm I want to share some of my thoughts on what needs to head down the road, what needs to be added, and where I am the most confused! It has become obvious to me that one of the tractors needs to go, and in a perfect world it needs to be replaced by a skid loader that would be able to perform quite a few important tasks on the farm. Also, an addition to the shed is something that is at the top of the list once we can get the money together and the details figured out.
The biggest question facing the farm at this moment though is what are we going to do about the hay operation. Or maybe I should say the “hay dabbling” because it hardly seems big enough to be classified as an operation. I can see the benefits that it has, but I’m wondering if those benefits outweigh the negatives. What do you think?
If you do make your way over to this post though I would love to hear what you think about the equipment and infrastructure our farm has accumulated over the past ten years. Do you have any advice on what probably doesn’t need to be on our farm? Do you think the hay business is something that we should continue to pursue? Why in the world do I have so many tractors on such a small farm?
Thank you so much for listening and I hope that you join in the conversation!
If I was trying to decide about continuing to bale hay, I would start by estimating how much it actually cost to bale each bale of hay. The problem is that there are numerous ways to calculate and interpret that number.
The simplest way might be to use average custom rates for your state (which typically account for all expenses including labor, fuel and equipment depreciation) to get a rough idea. Something similar to: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/crops/pdf/a3-10.pdf
Another way would be to just estimate your actual baling expenses with or without the labor cost to compare against the cost of buying hay. FWIW, when I calculated my hay expenses and included a generous charge for my labor it came out pretty close to the custom baling rates.
Regardless of if I decided to keep baling hay or decided to buy hay, I’d wait to sell any hay equipment for at lest a year or so.
Hi Ethan,
Since my husband & I are on the brink of starting a new farm, I have listened to your last 2 podcasts closely. Working with a Financial Advisor, we are currently evaluating what expenses to expect going forward. (the 60 acres we bought has no buildings)
I agree with Rich, I think you need to let the numbers make your decision about haying. BTW: why do you have haying equipment for both large round and small bales? If you have problems w/ the sheep & large bales, why not use small bales for both sheep & cattle? (more labor intensive, but saves $$ on equipment. Not to mention a very small herd… 🙂
I grew up on a very large & successful farm w/ a Dad who was/is very meticulous about how/when to spend…are you sure you need a 100 HP tractor for a 40 acre farm? I think skid steers are extremely handy, but they are very expensive. It sounds like you are going to have a lot of $$ invested in those 2 pieces of equipment, plus the needed expense of new building. Can your operation absorb all that?
Let the numbers make your decisions, not your feelings! You & your family will be happy you did!
Keep up the good work! I love listening and wish you many blessings.
Lisa
Lisa, a lot of great points there and plenty to consider. For sure we are looking at the numbers, although I will admit the ability to easily take a kid with me in the 4430 with the cab does tug on my heart strings 😉
For clarification, I do not own a round baler and just hirer that done. Also, I have considered doing only square bales but I have a few things keeping me from it. Labor of course is one thing. But another big one is storage. Off the top of my head I’d say it would take 1,400 or so small square bales and I just don’t have storage for that … even if I added on to my building as I want to. The large round bales can be stored outside … Yes, we have small flock of sheep and small herd of cattle, but even on our tiny scale we go through 2.5 bales each week. I will say the bale savers have helped a ton with the sheep! Way less waste 🙂
As for the 100 hp tractor … I would call that my unfair advantage. We got a great deal on the 4430 and a fair deal on the 4020, much cheaper than a smaller hp but newer tractor. The unfair advantage though comes in because I have family close by that can work on anything on these tractors and that is worth a ton! Plus I like it for moving the big round bales (we also go through 50 plus cornstalk bales each year).
As for the skid loader … I honestly don’t know what the answer is on that yet. It appears to be a $7000 to $8000 expense. It also would be most used in the hog operation which is without a doubt our centerpiece … it would also find work in building and fence construction.
Hope I didn’t sound defensive. Your astute comments just gave me a lot to consider! Then I always think of this … Greg Judy runs hundreds of cattle with no tractor … I can’t imagine that! Of course I spent 5 years farming without a truck and people on my blog couldn’t believe I did that 😉 Even now people around me can’t figure out how I farm without a mfwd tractor 😉