I have used my conventional baler (JD456) to bale some hay for a local farmer. What can I charge per bale?

Question

I provided the tractor, baler, all diesel and string and my labour of course!

Answer 1

to make money you would have to charge at least 15-30$

Answer 2

this depends on the quality of the hay, prices are typically, £1.50 to £4.50 a bale, good meadow hay is worth more than seed hay, how dusty is it, what grasses does it contain, any thistles, ragwort etc. ragwort is poisonous.

Answer 3

depends on how much diesel you use how long a peice of string is, and how much your prepered to work your behind of..if it where me taken in to account costs and labour. £4.50 per bale...Oh one other thing how big is the field..?

Answer 4

you should have worked that out before you did the work do you need they hay? 1/2 of the hay or you need to try to figure out how much fuel twine and labor you used ask the farmer what he thinks it worth and if you are not happy with that then dont help him anymore

Answer 5

I ran a hay baling business for years (JD 535).  I usually looked at the quality of grass in the field and if it was fair to good I would take half the hay or charge 1/2 the avg cost of hay, owners choice.  If the field was poor I would tell the guy in advance before even taking any equipment there that I didnt think the field was worth baling but if he still wanted it baled I would only take payment in cash.  

So right now round bales here are going for 40 bucks a pop so I would charge 20 bucks a bale for cash.  This isnt the technical way to figure out you pricing but it does work pretty well.  Right now my grandfather is charging 35 a bale for his own hay that he cuts and bales himself and is making decent money in a flooded market this year.  He does charge a few dollars extra if they want them net wrapped instead of twine wrapped.  I would think most farmers would expect a 1/2 cost per bale charge.  I just always assumed is was universal.

Answer 6

What do you think it's worth?  How much time did it take to do? How often do you do it for him? How many bales?  Shop around at the local retail shops and see what they charge, and go from there.

Answer 7

When I was asked to do some custom haying I called other custom hay people and asked what they charged for each of their services, swathing, raking, baling, and picking the hay up.  Some charge by the ton.  Some charge individually if the farmer is doing part of the work.

So call some custom hay guys in your area and find out the prices.  I charged a little less than the rest so I would get the work and yes I still came out alright...

Next time find out before you do the work and ask the farmer what he has in mind....sharecropping or by the acre, ton, or by the bale.  Then tell him it will be so much by the "whatever"....

I kept a list of current prices and charges so I could tell the customer exactly what everyone was charging.  That way he couldn't try and tell me well so and so charges this and is less than you are....I would look at my list and say well no this other guy charges this and I am less than he is....

I usually didn't go into something to share crop unless I was in control of the swathing, raking, baling, and the picking up because I know how I want my hay done for my livestock.

All the things that you provided, especially labor, may only be worth $.50 cents a bale for small bales....

When and if you have a LOT of customers then you could look at the business in those terms.  Then you are a custom hay business providing a service but it is still only paying about $35.00 to $50.00 per ton of product.  

Some places charge a minimum.  When we get to our 4th and 5th cuttings we have to charge a minimum per acre to be able to still come out ahead.

I am sure you will, as I did, learn as you go along.  And you will make good deals and bad deals.  And you will have some losses, but there will also be some gains.  I am still looking for the gains....loll....but I am sure that next time you will be better equiped and have your ducks lined up in a row before you take on your next project.

Answer 8

Lottie,  I have my hay baled every year.  People around here bale it for half of the hay.  This is something you should have worked out before hand.  You should get with him and try to work out the value of the hay.  If he wants the hay, he should pay you for your half.  I hope he is a honest farmer because you are pretty much going to have to take what that he'll give you at this point.  You are in a much better position to bargain before you bale the hay.  A good lesson for the next time you do any custom work for someone.  Good Luck.

Answer 9

20 pounds.

Answer 10

40 P

Answer 11

howdy pardner...my pop bales hay for half, he sells hay too...thats 20 buckaroos a bale. now thats them big ole round ones i'm not sure what a jd456 is, but to that fellar that has the field of grass. that would be 20 big ones for half the total bales or 10 bucks per bale...now he does get on out there and cut it and rake it all up too so if you don't do that you might ouhta not  charge so much ya hear

Answer 12

Hi Lottie !!

The fuel, baling twine, is a “direct cost” so however much you used is part of the equation.

If you do custom work often, I highly suggest searching one of the Midwest college websites, .edu  for the formula on the cost of the tractor, baler, and whatever equipment you used. The formula will give you a yearly cost which can be broken down to an “exact” per bale cost. You may be surprised at what that figure may be!  In my part of the country the charge is per ton- which is currently about 35 dollars.  We exclusively use balewagons, and it’s about 50 cents a bale or about 90 dollars an hour if we can’t make 4 loads an hour.

I HIGHLY suggest not going for ½ the hay unless you have animals to feed it to.  If it’s c**p hay,, ½ of c**p is still c**p!! And you’d be working for about free! I’ve seen those so-called “farmers” knotheads with way more money than brains and 3-10 acres of land so they think they qualify as a Farmer!!  The c**p they’re calling hay isn’t worth running thru the baler !!

Answer 13

5 pounds a bale

Answer 14

well it depends,  how well do you know this person, how greedy are you,  and if you are selling it wholesale or retail

wholesale, 1.75 - 2.75

retail,  3.00 - 4.00

im on the buying end of the deal all the time  :)