College project : cost/s of forage production?

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RunRunReindeer

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Hi all, for a college project I am looking into the cost/s per acre of producing hay/ haylage/ silage, and would be very grateful for any relevant info you might be able to provide. Please PM me if that's more appropriate. Many thanks for any help.
 
hmmm, what do you want to know? How you go about costing things up depends on your situation...
how many acres?
own machinery?
contractors?
is the land grassland or does it require seeding?
 
Thanks for your reply.
It's hypothetical, but based on someone trying to produce conserved forage from 10 acres, incl preparing the ground (harrowing?), fertilising, seeding, mowing, turning, baling. All machinery (& driver) would need to be hired.
Alternatively, any contractors out there who charge per acre to go with their own machinery (after the grass is grown) to mow/turn/bale, and if so how much?
 
Right:
you need to harrow and roll, which most contractors I know charge per man+machine/hour, but some do that per acre, at about £10
then you need to probably fertilise, with fertiliser reaching £300 per tonne :eek:, I cut 15 acres last year, hired a contractor to spread the fertiliser at a cost of £750 - you can do the maths :D
mowing - £20 per acre
turning - £5 per acre (you need to turn at least twice for hay)
rowing up - £5 per acre
baling is normally charged per bale, so it depends how good a yield you are having, whereabouts in the country and what type of soil, grass seed and so on.

that's for hay, for haylage the turning cost id lower, but the wrapping needs to be added.

for silage, it needs to either be carted off immediately into clamps, or bailed pretty sharpish

there is also the matter of haylage/silage additive

Now, if the ground is just an arable field/fallow that will need starting from scratch, it's a completely different ball game :)
 
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