Big round or small square?

[pfettig77]

I was thinking about not renewing the lease on my 10 acre ag field and making hay on it instead. Does anyone know which would be more marketable/profitable between round and small squares. FWIW, if I did round bales they would be smaller (4'x4') - don't know if that makes a difference.

[farmerDale]

Here at least, and I believe most places, you can get a LOT more money per lb of small squares than biggish rounds.

It all depends on location as well. Are there horses around?

Here, a 1500 lb round, will go for 50 dollars MAX. While a 60 lb square will go for 4 bucks.

That works out to twice the money, for the same dang hay!

But read the small print. What it is here, may not hold true there.

Results will vary, sell small squares at your own risk, dealer may sell for less.

[SouthGAMan]

Not sure who would be your target market but I would think that you could sell many more smaller rectangular bales than you could round ones (even a smaller round one). Just think if you only made round bales then you are automatically eliminating the part of your potential customer base who doesn't have a means to transport or even move a round bale on their farm. Although it would probably incur more initial expense on your part I'd think there is a much wider market for small rectangular bales.

Surely on these boards is someone who has done it for profit and will have better input than I though.

[Westvalleyfarm]

Square bails sell better and open up your market to more operations.

[farmerDale]

Good point there, South Georgia man. Most who use larger rounds, already are self contained operations, IE cattle guys. Most of them make enough of their own hay already. And also, like you say, not everyone has a decent loader or loader at all, so yes, I think in many cases, you are limiting your market if you go big rounds...

[farmerDale]

Also, do you have a bale wagon to alleviate some of the labor in squares? I would not do squares, even on a small scale, without a decent New holland picker. They are slick, and take most of the work out of squares, if they are working properly.

[Westvalleyfarm]

We sell way more 4x5 than we do 5x5s

[rambler]

Good quality hay that meets your market (cow/calf, dairy cow, horse?) will sell well.

The horse market is the most fickle, has the most temperamental customers, but pays the most. They mostly all want small squares.

Round bales, will depend on your local market. Smaller operations with a little tractor can handle small rounds better. Bigger livestock will be looking for a big bale full of value. A modern round baler will make a tight, heavy bale. An older round baler will make a saggy, looser, light weight bale. Tight heavy bale is worth more than a loose saggy one.

Typically, you make the most on small squares, store them until mid winter out of the weather in good condition, and sell to individuals with a lot of human contact and small loads.

So, do you have the time for all this, and the building to store the hay in? That is the best paying.

For longer transport of bales, if you live in an area that produces more hay than it uses, big square bales have become popular. They stack on a semi easily and haul well and have more hay per cubic foot. If you need to transport round bales any distance, it may be more legal to haul 4 foot wide round bales than 5 foot wide stacked 2 across...... Something to consider.

Round bales you use more string or net per bale in a smaller bale, so it will use up more cost to you. Another consideration.

Paul

[Allen W]

Originally Posted by farmerDale

Also, do you have a bale wagon to alleviate some of the labor in squares? I would not do squares, even on a small scale, without a decent New holland picker. They are slick, and take most of the work out of squares, if they are working properly.

Ran on to a dealer once that had a new holand stack hand that was built on a 3/4 ton pick up, couldn't get him to part with it.

[farmerDale]

Originally Posted by Allen W

Ran on to a dealer once that had a new holand stack hand that was built on a 3/4 ton pick up, couldn't get him to part with it.

I bet not, that would be slick. The SP pickers are just such a one task show. I have a pull type, it works well if the bales are picked fresh, and if they are tight.

[AmericanStand]

The BIG 3x3 squares sell well here and are a lot less work. BUT the small ones Still sell better. For some reason the HUGE 4x4 squares don't sell well
Are you going to buy the equipment or hire it done?
Small squares are cheapest to get into here big squares the highest.

[Jolly]

How many cuttings do you get in Wisconsin?

Down here, we can get three cuttings pretty easily. The first is the smallest, followed by two good cuttings.

That may make a difference in what you plan to do, along with factors other people have already mentioned.

[Jennifer L.]

It all depends on your market. If you get 100 small squares per acre, which is just over two tons per acre (nothing great, nothing bad, either) that's 1000 bales. If you don't sell them out of the field you have to store them all. At two dollars a bale, that's $2000. Is it worth a few weeks of summer and the work for that kind of money? If you get five dollars? Remember that you don't make money until you've paid for the fuel, twine and the equipment.

I guess I lean towards do the haying if you enjoy it (as a rite of summer I do kind of enjoy it yet), or if you think the money is going to be worth it, or if you have animals of your own to feed, as well, so you can sell some of the extra hay for a few bucks. I can't ever see it as a big money maker on that number of acres unless you have a good, high dollar market. Having said that, sometimes it takes time to develop that market, too, and you don't know until you try.

[pfettig77]

Originally Posted by farmerDale

Also, do you have a bale wagon to alleviate some of the labor in squares? I would not do squares, even on a small scale, without a decent New holland picker. They are slick, and take most of the work out of squares, if they are working properly.

Funny you should say that. I charge a guy to store 2 of those in my machine shed all year. Maybe I could use it in exchange for storing it. However, I was thinking of what good character I could build in my kids if I made them go pick them up or rode behind and stack them.

[hoddedloki]

Like Rambler said, small square bales sell best, specifically because of the horse market. Reason being, the big round bales tend to mold in the middle by December, and while the cows don't care, the horses do care. So horse folks will buy small square bales, but never big rounds, while cattle folks can use either.

Loki

[FarmboyBill]

What kinda hay are we talkin??

[SouthGAMan]

Originally Posted by Jennifer L.

It all depends on your market. If you get 100 small squares per acre, which is just over two tons per acre (nothing great, nothing bad, either) that's 1000 bales. If you don't sell them out of the field you have to store them all. At two dollars a bale, that's $2000. Is it worth a few weeks of summer and the work for that kind of money? If you get five dollars? Remember that you don't make money until you've paid for the fuel, twine and the equipment.

I guess I lean towards do the haying if you enjoy it (as a rite of summer I do kind of enjoy it yet), or if you think the money is going to be worth it, or if you have animals of your own to feed, as well, so you can sell some of the extra hay for a few bucks. I can't ever see it as a big money maker on that number of acres unless you have a good, high dollar market. Having said that, sometimes it takes time to develop that market, too, and you don't know until you try.

Curious are you saying in your area it only costs $2 a bale for a small rectangular bale? Or are you saying it will cost roughly $2 a bale for storage? From the rest of your post it seemed you are saying $2 a bale sell price.

Around here a rectangular bale sells for $5.50 at two different local feed stores. One of them sells roughly a whole tractor trailer load every 2 weeks to their customers (and total population of the entire county is roughly 15,000).

[pfettig77]

These are some great thoughts. Some people mentioned the big square balers, but the cost of those is astronomical. This would mostly be a for-fun venture but I'd still like to maximize the profit. One of the things keeping me from the big rounds is that there is only one model(with several names - Hesston 530, 5530, 730, 830 Case 8420 Ferguson 1734 and a couple others) that would work behind my tractor and they're hard to come by.

[Michael W. Smith]

Originally Posted by pfettig77

I was thinking of what good character I could build in my kids if I made them go pick them up or rode behind and stack them.

How sadistic are you?!?

It all depends on your market and what you are set up for. If you have an empty dry barn, small squares are the way to go - but do you have the labor for it? Your kids will get plenty of exercise with a wagon and bale kicker - they don't need to be picking bales up out of the field. (Done that - it's VERY labor intensive.) Small squares are easy to sell - and anybody can handle them - but you have to have the storage and plan on lots of small sales here and there.

If you don't have a barn or the labor to move lots of small bales around, then the big bales are the way to go. It's still best to have them under shelter and up off the ground, but you will be limiting your sales - people who don't have spears on their tractor (or a tractor) will pass you up for the guy that has small bales. On the other hand, you sell more hay quicker with large round bales.

My Dad got cattle and was using small bales. He would mow a huge field at one time and when baling time was there, my wife and I were called into duty. Working full time jobs though limited how long we could load hay, and there were many evenings we were rushing around trying to get all of the hay in before a rain storm.

He didn't have a kicker at first, so we had to walk around while he drove picking up and loading each bale by hand. Get it to the barn and unload it and then go out to pick up more. One bale would be handled by at least 3 different people and multiple times before it was safely in the barn. Time intensive.

[pfettig77]

Originally Posted by Michael W. Smith

How sadistic are you?!?

It all depends on your market and what you are set up for. If you have an empty dry barn, small squares are the way to go - but do you have the labor for it? Your kids will get plenty of exercise with a wagon and bale kicker - they don't need to be picking bales up out of the field. (Done that - it's VERY labor intensive.) Small squares are easy to sell - and anybody can handle them - but you have to have the storage and plan on lots of small sales here and there.

If you don't have a barn or the labor to move lots of small bales around, then the big bales are the way to go. It's still best to have them under shelter and up off the ground, but you will be limiting your sales - people who don't have spears on their tractor (or a tractor) will pass you up for the guy that has small bales. On the other hand, you sell more hay quicker with large round bales.

My Dad got cattle and was using small bales. He would mow a huge field at one time and when baling time was there, my wife and I were called into duty. Working full time jobs though limited how long we could load hay, and there were many evenings we were rushing around trying to get all of the hay in before a rain storm.

He didn't have a kicker at first, so we had to walk around while he drove picking up and loading each bale by hand. Get it to the barn and unload it and then go out to pick up more. One bale would be handled by at least 3 different people and multiple times before it was safely in the barn. Time intensive.

I once heard someone call the small bales "idiot bales", but that's not very nice, is it? I'm a teacher, so I'll have time in the summer to get it all done. That's a big plus.