Trying to find going rate for contractor to cut hay field

[lizzypeg]

Hi

We have a 8.5 acre field that is resting and has been since late march which we don't need for grazing and were hoping to get cut for hay, however we have no idea what the going rate is for hay making and baling and have been trying to find local contractors to come out and quote us on what it would cost etc without much success, most ain't interested as have their own to make etc. it would need cutting and baling and then fertilliing once cut with an organic fertiliser, does anyone know if people still cut and take the hay as payment or is that a thing of the past?we don't really need the hay but don't need the grass either and if not eaten down will need topping and no idea what that costs either, if anyone knows of prices in Kent for this kind or thing to be done or even better contractors in Kent that do this please csn you pm me

 

[Dry Rot]

How long is a piece of string?

Quoting a price for hay making is very difficult because there is no knowing what the weather will be like and how much work will be needed to get your hay safely baled.

If you are in a livestock area and your fences are good, it might be easier to let it for grazing. Have a word with your local livestock auctioneers.

If you are determined to let it for hay, try a neighbour and offer some sort of sharing arrangement, i.e. they harvest the hay but give you x number of bales.

Frankly, you may have to take what you can get, but I am 500 miles away and haven't a clue about your local demand! Try your farming neighbours, local auctioneers, the NFU, farming machinery ring, or perhaps even the local pub -- and be prepared to be paid in bales or a lamb for the freezer (if at all)!

 

[FairyLights]

round here £1 per small bale for mowing turning as often as necessary then baling is the going rate.

 

[wipeout]

We are in Kent, our farmer takes half, we keep half, no money changes hands. He bales about 20 acres. This is a historical agreement though so not sure of value for money. Like you, we don't need as much hay as we make or the grazing on that particular field.

 

[mulledwhine]

No help , eve farmer oh can't tell me . Take that as you will

 

[lizzypeg]

Happy for someone to take the hay to be honest in return for cutting but only had one guy out to look and he quoted nearly 3k to cut, turn and bale up and doesnt take hay as payment only cash and even if we did that and sold the small bales at 4.50 each we would still not cover costs let alone break even if we got 70 bales an acre which is what he suspected we would get from it. It's rented land and it's in the contract that we top twice yearly if we don't make hay from it so thought we would get prices for both making hay an topping but at 3k to make hay then topping twice a year is still going to be cheaper in the long run but seems a waste of good grass really, however we don't have enough ponies to get it all down quickly enough so if we can't make hay from it may well just have to have it topped I guess.

We were quoted £70 an acre for topping, how does that compare to your prices up North?

 

[lizzypeg]

Wipeout do you think he would want to come and do ours?

 

[FairyLights]

sounds very expensive lizzypeg.

 

[Dubsie]

Lizzypeg if you were within a 10 mile radius of me (central Berkshire, just east of Reading) I'm sure OH would happily bring his vintage tractor, mower and bailer etc to come and cut and bale in return for some of the crop. He's also looking for a field to go and practise his ploughing before the autumn competition matches - he only ploughs twice a year once in each competition!

 

[Fii]

Prices will include......Cutting...use of mower , tractor, man!
Turning, use of tedder, tractor, man,. two or three times.
Them bailer, ...use of bailer, tractor, man, net/wrap...the bloke we asked for a price last year included all these in price, turned out to be the same as if we were buying the bales, you may get it done in exchange for the hay though a bit of a waste when you could get it topped or rent out the grazing!

 

[lizzypeg]

Yes the 3k quoted includes all the work involved but he Said it would need turning 5 times as well which seems excessive to me as friend in Wales that makes hay only turns 2 or 3 times,

we are near Sevenoaks which is a pity as your hubby sounds ideal dubsie, unfortunately we rent the land and cannot sublet as its written into the contract so can't let out the extra grazing to other ponies to eat so our options are to either make hay off of it and the get it fertilised (in the contract with landowner) or get it topped twice yearly (again in the contract).

Ideals on topping prices for Kent appreciated also as been quoted 70 per acre by a contractor

 

[Surreydeb]

Might be cheaper to make haylage rather than hay (less turning and drying). Sure a farmer would do it for nothing in exchange for the crop try ringing hay suppliers they often look for new areas of land to cut.

 

[Surreydeb]

Or local vintage tractor club might want to come and play and do it for you!

 

[be positive]

Your contractor is quoting totally unrealistic prices, he probably thinks, like people do, that horse people are all rich so they can be ripped off

Last year a busy local farmer, I am in Somerset, quoted making big bale haylage, which may be your best option, at £10-12 per bale made and put in my barn. He charges about £150 to top 17 acres, it takes about 5 or 6 hours they charge by the hour not acre.

The other option I have done in the past is to get a farmer to cut and take for silage, they are in and loaded in no time and no money changed hands for that.

 

[jrp204]

OP, that contractor is taking the p1ss!! £70/acre for topping, 3k for 8.5 acres!!!!!!!!!!! We used to be contractors, wish we could have made that sort of money.
http://www.naac.co.uk/Docs/Contracting-Charges-2011-FINAL.pdf
This should give you an idea.
Remember haylage will be more expensive as you have to wrap it, OH makes superb haylage, he bales it a day before it would be fit for hay, he used to make 1000's of bales of it. Don't be tempted to bale and wrap hay that has got wet, leave it dry in the dramn before moving it again.
Speak to some of your local farmers, they may be willing to do a 50/50 deal although i expect they would want to either round bale or big square it. Or if you just want it cleared tell them they can have it for nothing.

 

[jrp204]

Bit of a guide:
Mow
Turn
Turn
Maybe 1 more turn
Dramn
Bale,
Carry - big bales you will need a tractor and loader.
If you're wrapping
Wrap (carry the bales before wrapping as they are a nightmare to handle wrapped)

 

[Miss L Toe]

We are in Kent, our farmer takes half, we keep half, no money changes hands. He bales about 20 acres. This is a historical agreement though so not sure of value for money. Like you, we don't need as much hay as we make or the grazing on that particular field.

^^^ this is a good idea, it also lessens the risk element as if the hay is poor [weather], you can buy in good horse hay or haylage for yourself and sell the remainder of the hay to the farmer for his cattle.
Most hay fields are rolled and fertilised by this time of the year. Rolling levels out bumps and stones, to lessen damage to machinery.

 

[Dry Rot]

Have a word with who ever owns the land. A grazing let (for less than 365 days) is a licence and not a sublet and might be allowed, but probably not for horses, just sheep or cattle. Much the best option in my opinion IF your fences are good and there are field troughs.

For £3,000, I could buy a small tractor (old massey or similar) and a topper and do the job and still have the machinery for next year! Cheaper, anyway, to contract that out. Is there no machinery ring in your area? If so, they will have a list of people prepared to do this sort of work and will quote acceptable rates for your area.

£1 a bale for making hay sounds cheap. Who carts it and stacks it? £2 sounds better. But contracting out hay making for a small acreage is a fool's game. Why should a contractor shift himself to make quality hay when he can get the same money for making rubbish? And are you going to get £4.50 a bale off the field? Round bales are a bit easier, but the hay still has to be turned and the baler available at short notice when it is fit.

I'm afraid horsey folk do get charged extra -- but could there be a good reason for that?? Surely not!!!

 

[Honey08]

Think we paid £100-£150 to have 8 acres topped.

It really sounds as though the contractor doesn't want to do the job and is putting you off. He is making it sound more difficult and expensive. If you turned hay as much as he said you would have a dusty mess to bale - I know as my over enthusiastic brother did it with ours one year!

Do you not want any of the hay - just want the grass cutting? Around here not many farmers have hay making stuff anymore - just haylage, so perhaps it would be easier to get someone to do that??

Also, another idea is to contact a local equestrian centre and offer them the hay/haylage if they organise the cutting etc. They will probably buy a lot from suppliers already, so will have lots of contacts.. If not, an ad in the Farmer's Guardian perhaps?

I think we paid £10/bale last year to have our haylage made and stacked in the yard. I did ask about hay, but can't remember what they said - possibly £1/bale.

 

[jrp204]

"Do you not want any of the hay - just want the grass cutting? Around here not many farmers have hay making stuff anymore - just haylage, so perhaps it would be easier to get someone to do that??"

The equipment is the same although more use round or big square balers now, the actual cutting, turning and dramming is no different.
Remember though if you make big squares or rounds of hay they must not be stacked for several weeks as they can spontaneously combust!

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

£3k is someone who doesnt want the job. Forget that.

£1 a bale is not covering costs for the contractor.

I would really consider getting a small tractor and topper and doing it yourself.

Or if you want the hay, many local livery yards will have a small tractor. Although people dont like lending/renting out stuff, if you bought a topper they might be willing to hire you the tractor, or even be paid to come and top the field.

Also if there are any local agric or equestrian colleges nearby they will have equipment and they often have land they harvest, and might be willing to do yours if paid, they might even take payment in the resulting crop of silage or haylage or hay.

 

[lizzypeg]

Thats the thing would be happy for someone to do it and take the hay in payment (if they would fertillise afterwards) as it would be nice to keep some back for ours but we don't really need it and to be honest if we break even then we would be happy with that as still cheaper then having it topped and topping seems such a waste to me, the 2 bigger contractors we asked locally won't touch it as its not a big enough field for them to bother with and we don't know anyone or any farmers locally as only just moved to the area, we asked the farmer next door who makes his own hay and he wasn't interested in it. Ideally if it was being made with some to keep then wrapped would be better as we don't have a massive barn to store hay in anyway.

I felt the contractor that quoted us was being excessive which is why i am hoping to find others locally that would be interested in either doing it or at least quoting us for it. At least i now know my suspections that he was excessive are justified i guess

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Maybe try these outfits (just googled), tho Im sure one of them will be the 3k outfit.

http://www.equestrianserviceskent.com/
http://www.agriplantdirect.co.uk/agriculture_contractor_details.php?id=71
this one is interesting I think
http://www.sheepkeep.co.uk/ramsak.htm

If paying per bale I think you should be looking to pay about £2 (nb that would include all the cutting turning and baling but might not include carting it off the field). If paying per bale then they might cut it in less than ideal conditions

If paying for the job then the cost will vary depending on how much time it takes. maybe say £40 per hour but the cost of how far they have to come to get to you might alter that figure upwards. Diesel v expensive. They hay should be more likely to be cut/turned right but they might stretch things out a bit. Normally hay should need 2 or three turns, but if weather turns then it could need doing again several times to help it dry out.

I would contact the sheepy link above re the local machinery link group. Esp if you arent bothered about the hay Im sure they will find someone who will do it and big bale it for themselves in exchange for keeping the crop. Not sure the (very expensive) fertiliser will get included, but it might, or at least part of the cost.

 

[lizzypeg]

Thanks Marcus, just spoken to a lovely man who is going to come up at the weekend to have a look at it and give us a quote so fingers crossed he is more reasonable then the last contractor to quote