Hay 2022

bogman_bass

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119230048#Comment_119230048

61 bales made this evening

cute geoge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119230311#Comment_119230311

Turned my hay twice today so hopefully the weather answers tomorrow .Today was slow enough but still some saving ,Thinking of spreading a bag of salt on the rows after raking .It is going to be gathered tomorrow hopefully without wrap

dodo mommy

Baled yesterday, just about fit, wrapped the head lands. Met eireann were giving rain for this morning but no sign yet if it doesn't rain I will be raging with myself for baleing to soon. Fcuk me it is so hard to get it right sometimes.

Sami23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237782#Comment_119237782

What part of the country you in as I did the opposite as it wasn't quiet fit but its turned out a very damp morning in Galway and not sure if the day will be good enough to dry it out again - it was very close 😞

Sorry now I didn't bale one field at least.

dodo mommy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237816#Comment_119237816

Mayo

Dunedin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237782#Comment_119237782

You done what you thought best given the forecast.

it’ll all work out.

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119234039#Comment_119234039

I stand to be corrected but to the best of my knowledge we don’t export round bales to America so the price of hay in America in a drought a few years ago has about as much effect on the price of hay in Ireland in summer 2022 as the price of a haircut in Australia does.

If cattle are going to be very expensive next Spring that will have the opposite effect on feed prices as lads will factory off lighter under fleshed cattle instead of buying expensive feed for them. The best hope you have of getting €60 a bale for your hay is if cattle are at a bad price but there’s hope for a big price rise in the near future and we have a severe Spring like 2013 or 2018 as lads may just keep their cattle on then in the hope of recovering their costs.

I was talking to a good friend on the Roscommon Leitrim border yesterday who does a bit of contracting. He says they’re only really getting going at silage there in the past week or 10 days and 18-20 bales per acre is nearly the norm. He says the farmers have never seen crops like it so I think your market in the west and north west will be fairly diminished too.

I have my silage costs worked out at €43 per bale without a land charge so I won’t be selling any for anything less than €50 per bale. That means I’ll have silage left over to use myself in winter 2023 as there will be plenty of poor quality silage available at €30 a bale and possibly less as the year goes on so no-one is going to pay anywhere near €50.

A local field of hay was cleared here yesterday evening at €28 a bale with the seller happy to see it gone. Very little appetite for hay yet as most buyers are expecting the prices to drop so they’re holding off.

roosterman71

I have my silage costs worked out at €43 per bale without a land charge

If ya don't mind, could you break down those figures? I've done similar here and it's standing me around €25 to make a bale (no chemical fert this year helps of course). I'm wondering have I missed something in my maths

Easten

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237958#Comment_119237958

We all know that the price of feed in the USA has little relevance to hay prices here. I merely used it as an example of how quickly and extreme prices can go. I could have used the used the example of spring 2012 when we were importing feed from the UK and France at over €200 a bale.

"If cattle are going to be very expensive next Spring that will have the opposite effect on feed prices" not the case as it has been seen many times. Most Farmers do not sell when prices are high which is a contributing factor to the high price but they are all selling there cattle when the price is on the floor again a contributing factor to the low price.

When the price of cattle are high Farmers have no issue paying extra for feed as they feel its worth it as the value of the cattle cover the extra costs, and again the opposite when cattle prices are on the floor farmers see no value in buying feed at any price no matter how low the price is gone, they usually end up throwing away the cattle for half nothing instead.

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119238080#Comment_119238080

My per acre costs are as follows;

Slurry €55 (2,500 gallons of pig slurry)

Urea €67.50 (1.5 bags per acre)

Mowing €27

Tedding €11

Raking €11

Total = €171.5

7.5 bales per acre of high quality grass cut 13th May = €22.86 per bale.

Per bale costs;

Bale and wrap €9

Additive €2

Polythene €4

Draw home and stack €4 (3 miles from field to yard unfortunately keeps this cost on the high side)

Total of €41.86 per bale.

Apologies Rooster, I was a little over €1 a bale out earlier but it was 6 weeks since I had last worked it out!

dzer2

Great day here in north kk

roosterman71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119238765#Comment_119238765

Thanks. Here's mine for equivalence

Per acre:

• Slurry €78 (includes delivery cost of pig slurry to yard plus my own cost to spread it)
• Fert. €0
• Mowing €25
• Tedding €10
• Raking €10

Total: €123 (per bale [15.6 bales/acre first 2 weekends in June] - €7.88/bale)

Per bale:

• Bale and Wrap €9
• Plastic €3.03 (plastic was bought last year at €85/roll)
• Bale delivery €5

Total of €24.91

In no way would the quality of this match what you have. I've got €35/bale when selling

kk.man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119238837#Comment_119238837

Hard to believe it's going to rain tomorrow.

2smiggy

Very good day in Cork today. Got a lot of bales. Thought could of done with another good day, but it was better than I thought.

Will keep checking it the next few days, but hopefully won't have to wrap it.

stanflt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119236849#Comment_119236849

Busy week topped of with 139 bales this evening

StevenToast

Alot of dìck swinging going on with bales of hay!!

Havent pulled the trigger yet....met eireann have me driven demented....

bogman_bass

61 bales made yesterday. 40 of them in the shed tonight

stanflt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119241568#Comment_119241568

Do you ever stop!!!

2smiggy

Well at least they got the forecast right

StevenToast

Some rain here....therell be no hay made for the next week anyway...

Hope no one got caught waiting for contractor to bale....

whelan2

Neighbour rang me this evening, he'll deliver bales of hay for 35 euro into the shed. I'll give him a bit of drink money along with it. Another lad looking 50 euro a bale.

Sami23

In relation to Tedders how much superior are the ones with the 'hooked tines' like Lely and Malone compared to all the rest with the straight tines ?

Also how important is the number of tines per rotor as from looking on dd it seems to vary from 6 up to 8 ?

Tia

tanko

Having seen both types in action here, i reckon tedders with hooked tines are a far better job.

kk.man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119245413#Comment_119245413

Plus 1

joe35

Anyone any recommendations for a hay turner. Wouldn't do much hay here but could do with 1 all the same

Reggie.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119245413#Comment_119245413

I disagree with that. I much prefer the straighter tines

stanflt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119246452#Comment_119246452

I’ve a hooked tine Tedder- often get lads in to help if I’m busy- straight tine are a disaster

johnnyw20

I’ve a straight tine krone which I’ve used for over 200 acres the last 2 years and recently sat in a tractor tedding with a 8 rotor lely hooked tine. I honestly don’t know why lads are obsessed with the hooked tine. My krone done a much better job tedding out

Half of the Tedders in this country are not set up or adjusted correctly and people wonder then why there are lumps in the crops

Reggie.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119247042#Comment_119247042

This is what I'm talking about. Hooked tines if not set up right leave nothing but lumps

Sami23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119246605#Comment_119246605

What would the difference be

stanflt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119247341#Comment_119247341

No idea- could just be down to driver and machine not set properly

mr.stonewall

I'm more of a straight guy, than a bent lad, for the day that's in it. Work with a krone here and it's leaves a lovely even spread.

A lot of the lumps are down to driver error. Slow and steady at 5-6 km/h and 540 on the PTO is the key for the 1st 2 turns in any crop.

Don't blame the tool, blame the fool behind the tool🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

2smiggy

What are people seeing as a realistic price per bale in your areas ?

Know of a few in North Cork asking and getting 35 off the field

DBK1

€30-€35 seems to be about the run of the asking prices around here (midlands).

Bleating Lamb

Hay will be dear then for us poor divils in the rainy NW by the time regular hauliers take account of increased price of diesel while buying it out of sheds up the country next Spring to sell down here outside Marts etc. Would imagine a minimum of 4-50 euro a small square bale will be the price by time it gets here.

We didn't get any of the dry week got down the country where a lot of the posters here got nice hay made. Know of one fella up here (with good ground by Leitrim standards) that saves 20 acres+ of hay a year. Not looking good for him this year....suppose we aren't into July yet so hopefully some spell comes as majority of Silage not touched here yet as ground soaked.

Would people in 'hay making areas' down the country say that 70%+ of hay that's usually made for sale was got safe in the recent good spell iykwim?

kk.man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119255356#Comment_119255356

The world of hay was made in the SE ...lads that never made hay in years did it this year. There won't be a shortage down here for ages

tabby aspreme

Tullow mart have a hay auction tomorrow at 10, it will be live on Mart Eye app.

StevenToast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119258395#Comment_119258395

Keep us posted please

tabby aspreme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119258478#Comment_119258478

I'll be at work, so probably won't be able to check what's happening

tanko

How do farmers feed all this hay during the winter, a neighbour of mine feeds a lot of hay in slatted sheds, a fair amount of it ends up in the tanks. It’s some nightmare trying to agitate his tanks.

StevenToast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119258923#Comment_119258923

I throw it into a round feeder on rough ground to a few cattle that are outwintered....great job

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119258923#Comment_119258923

With Suckler cows, I alternate silage then hay, then silage. Actually very little ends up in the slats, I know because I have to stir it and spread it. Key is to make sure they only have just enough for a half day or day. Less time for them to play with with it.

I always shake the bale up with the grab. Always found it worse if they had to pull the grub from a bale.

2smiggy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119258923#Comment_119258923

don't feed a whole lot of it, only if the bales of silage are wet. Then 2 bales silage and 1 bale of hay in diet feeder.

glanman

Looks like a spell of settled weather on the way from the weekend

2smiggy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119260261#Comment_119260261

hopefully from Saturday on, badly needed really.

StevenToast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119260261#Comment_119260261

The met eireann app has shìte weather forecast for the next week!

roosterman71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119262116#Comment_119262116

Get yer sun cream and shorts out so

tanko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119262116#Comment_119262116

Next week is looking very good at the moment.

Easten

Round 2 to begin next week so!

glanman

How do we feel about the weather the week ahead. Lot of rain fell in the south in recent days so ground is soft. My weather apps are all dry and settled but differ on sunshine vs cloud cover