How much hay can 15 acres produce

Member. Probably average 3000 (+/-) 40 pound bales, so 60 tons more or less! That would be a total for all cuttings taken.

How many small bales make an acre?

Well-Known Member. I was told approx 100 small bales per acre. I.e. 10 acres would make about 1,000 bales. That would be a maximum unless you left a field empty from Feb until August and made hay before the grass got knocked right down!

How much hay will 50 acres grow?

Here was the thought, on 50 acres you would get 100 square bales per acre, which is a conservative number. If we do the math, that works out to be. 100 bales x 50 acres = 5000 bales of hay for 50 acres of land.

How many pounds of hay do you get per acre?

120 square feet divided by 43,560 square feet per acre equals 0.0028 acres. If the amount of hay weighed 20 pounds, then 20 pounds divided by 0.0028 acres equals 7,142 pounds, or 3.5 tons per acre. Weigh hay from several different sections in the field in order to get a representative yield.

How many bales of hay can you get off of 3 acres?

With an average bale weight of around 40 pounds (with our Abbriata small square baler or any of our mini round balers), that’s 100 bales to the acre for a first cutting.

How much haylage do you get per acre?

But rule of thumb is that one tonne of hay is equal to approx 40/45 bales or 4 to 5 round bales and one acre would yield approx two tonnes of hay.

Is hay farming worth it?

Brown says using 2019 numbers, it costs about $400 an acre to plant corn on ground that may yield 150 bushels per acre. … “If you are getting $125 per ton for quality hay, you are going to see a profit of $51 per ton, or $204 per acre. “The potential is there to make some pretty good money on hay.”

How much does it cost to make a small square bale of hay?

Hay QualityBale TypeAverage PriceGrade 1Small Square$229Large Square$177Large Round$152Grade 2Large Square$137

How many bales of silage do you get per acre?

Yiekld usually 3–4 bales/acre. Mark the high-quality bales in your storage area so you will know them from the ordinary bales of silage. Don’t open more bales than you require as they will go ‘off’ quickly. The average weight of the bale is 200-240kg DM.

How many acres do you need to grow hay?

Average yield of hay per acre is 2.44 tons. That means a cow/calf pair needs the production of 2.7 acres planted hay to eat for a year.

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How many bales of alfalfa can you get per acre?

100 50 lbs bales about @ acre would be a good average on 1st cut, but depending on seeding, soil and fertilization could be up to 150 bales.

How many times a year can you cut hay?

In most areas of the country, grass hay can be cut twice, sometimes three times, per year. The first cutting generally has the largest yield. Some animals, like sheep, prefer the tender stems of second or third cutting hay.

How much hay does a cow need?

Cows will voluntarily consume 2.0% of body weight or 24 pounds per day. The 24 pounds is based on 100% dry matter. Grass hays will often be 7 to 10% moisture. If we assume that the hay is 92% dry matter or 8% moisture, then the cows will consume about 26 pounds per day on an “as-fed basis”.

What do you need to farm hay?

Hay Equipment A compact tractor is the staple of every operation, but mowers, conditioners, hay rakes, balers, and sometimes hay tedders and bale wrappers are also needed. Pay close attention to make sure your tractor has enough engine horsepower to meet the horsepower requirement for each implement.

How many cows can you have per acre?

You should be able to keep between 0.5 and 1.1 cows per acre on average pasture. In general, rotational grazing may increase the cows-per-acre rate up to 30% compared to traditional grazing. However, rotational grazing techniques require at least two paddocks and are usually more expensive.

Is it cheaper to buy hay or make it?

In most environments where forage production is based on natural rainfall, you can almost always buy hay cheaper than you can produce it. Most farmers and ranchers initially don’t believe this. … When full cost of production is accounted for, hay generally costs between $70 and $140/ton to produce.

Do you have to replant hay every year?

Some fields are always used to grow hay, and don’t require re-planting every year. In other cases, hay is a part of a crop rotation, where farmers plant different crops on the same field in different years. Hayseed can be a mixture of many types of seeds, with alfalfa, clover, and timothy being among the most common.

How many acres do you need for a round bale of hay?

From a good quality hay field on a first cutting, expect to get at least 4 large bales from an acre. An acre is 43560 square feet (208.7′ by 208.7′).

How do small farms make money?

1. Sell Extra Garden Seeds.
2. Grow & Sell Extra Seedlings.
3. Start a Market Garden & Sell Vegetables.
4. Start a Medicinal or Culinary Herb Garden & Sell Plants.
5. Grow an Extra Row of Garlic & Sell Seed.
6. Grow Microgreens for Restaurants & Market.
7. Start a Worm Farm.
8. Sell Perennial Herbs & Flowers.

How much does it cost to plant a hay field?

Costs generally are $200 to $300 per acre.

How hard is it to grow hay?

Commercial farms have little difficulty raising hay or sourcing out their needs, but smaller farmers and urban hobbyists can also grow, harvest and bale hay even on a smaller scale. Haying can be challenging, and some farmers simply enjoy that challenge.

How much does it cost to make a round bale of hay?

If you are figuring what it costs you to make hay on your farm, add mowing, raking, and baling at 20.20 per bale (Machinery Cost Estimates, University of Illinois Extension, June 2015). As a result, a bale of hay sitting in the field costs $33.11.

How much does it cost to make a hay bale?

From the hay market, square bales, on average, will cost you between $3 and $10 per bale, but some farmers prefer selling their hay per pound, in which case such a bale will be around 50 pounds.

How much hay does a horse eat?

Measure feed accurately and feed consistently The average thousand-pound horse who relies on hay for all their forage typically eats fifteen to twenty pounds of hay per day. Most hay is dispensed in flakes; however, the amount of hay in a flake can vary greatly, depending on the size of the flake and the kind of hay.

How many round bales will a cow eat?

Calculate Number of Bales Needed Determine the number of bales of hay that each cow needs by dividing the cow’s yearly need by the adjusted weight of each bale. For a cow needing 8,190 pounds of hay per year and a bale weight of 960 pounds, divide 8,190 by 960 for a yearly need of about 8.5 bales per cow.

How soon can you feed silage bales?

Ideally you should leave a clamp closed for at least 4 weeks but if you are desperate, you can feed it within a few days even though the fermentation will not have stabilised yet.

How many bales of silage will a cow eat?

The baled silage requirement is about 1.5 bales/cow/month. Wean lings require about 0.75t silage per month or one big bale and heavy stores require 1.2t silage or 1.5 big bales/month.

How much does square baling hay cost?

Charge a flat rate for mowing and raking, and a flat rate to bale. Most are right at $1 a bale just for operator, tractor and baler, with hay owner supplying all other labor. If you had a poor cutting at 1000 lbs acre, you might only gross $40/ acre for everything.

How much is a bale of hay 2020?

Small square bales averaged $4.60 a bale (range of $2.00 to $6.00). Large square bale straw averaged $64.00 per bale (a range of $40.00 to $90.00). Large round bale straw averaged $58.00 per bale (a range of $40.00 – $85.00). In Nebraska, hay sold steady, demand is light in 2020.

How much do farmers charge to cut hay?

A common rule of thumb is that it costs approximately $50 per ton to cut, rake, bale and stack hay at the edge of the field. That figure may be lower if doing lots of acres and it may be higher when doing small pieces.

How do I start a hay field?

For hay, mow the field with a rotary mower to remove problem plants by cutting them before they set viable seed. Till to control tenacious, perennial weeds, such as bedstraw, and then seed. The best time to seed is in May or in the first three weeks of August, when seed will survive and compete with weeds better.