| bleedred - 1/26/2015 15:11
I have been stewing for the last two years about getting a high clearance spreader to top dress corn. Its worked well for me in my trials and I really think its a great way for us to manage N on our farm.
But to make it feasible I would need to be able to spread all of my own products and I am afraid that fall is already busy enough and I worry about the additional work load.
If you spread your own acres how/when are you doing it?
Can you spread on frozen ground without snow cover? I have not done this in the past and common sense tells me there will be runoff or at the very least movement of product. Is this accurate or does the fertilizer tend to stay in place?
Winter usually yields extra time to get things done, but if its not done right its not worth doing at all!
It sounds like there will be a boom in my area for a top dress application so custom work could be readily available at least for the next couple years.
I am figuring up all my costs and seeing what it would take to pay on my farm alone and any custom work could be icing on the cake.
My biggest reason for wanting this is to have control over the top dress application timing, and being able to use my own precision ag products to minimize crop damage in season.
I think the first question that needs answered is how do you plan to tender the spreader? Next question is, where will you pull product from and how close is this location? Third, what kind of cost saving can be had by pulling direct? Fourth what kind of spreader, ie does it have potential to swap beds for sprayer body?
The simple fact is, a SP rig will not pay its way buy charging $5 or $6 or $7/acre. By the time you recoup the cost it will be trashed. And to do the job you wanna do you cant go buy some hashed out floater for pennies on the dollar.
Just like with chemicals, the money is made in the savings of product, not the application charge.
If you are big enough, you might be able to work a deal with a retailer to set up an agreement that you buy the rig, you put a warm body in it, it does all your acres first, and then you lease/rent/whatever you think back to them for acres they run thru it. And have them tender the rig and work deals with terminal pricing. Makes you money, gives them cheaper capacity on acres with little capital tie up.
Edited by AGP 1/26/2015 15:26
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Spreading your own Dry fertilizer?
