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Anybody on here purchase all or a majority of their feed needs?
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feelnrite
Posted 11/11/2012 18:47 (#2691489 - in reply to #2691436)
Subject: Re: Anybody on here purchase all or a majority of their feed needs?


northwest tennessee
<p>I purchase most of my feed and a good portion of my hay the last couple years. I have started thinking differently about hay and used to think a person was crazy to buy hay but not anymore if you can find it reasonable. If you look at ALL the costs of hay it does not make sense to grow your own unless you have alot of excess ground and I dont. Hay is very hard on ground and will take alot out of it and fertilizer is not cheap like it was. You have equipment expense and you tie ground up that you could be grazing and maybe carrying a few more head. Time and labor is an expense too. The way the weather has changed here unless it changes back our best grazing is going to be in the cool seasons and is going to require rye grass or rye, wheat etc. to be planted in the fall. If you have some row crop ground that is fenced you can do this and save alot of hay and get more use out of your ground. To tell you the truth the last few years the thing that I have spent money on that I got the least return on was probably fertilizer. I have always been big on fertility and still am but you have to have water to make it work and we have not had it. I may be getting my fertility to a level too where I dont see as much of a gain from it. Everyone thinks differently but these are my thoughts and I had much rather graze ground than cut hay off of it. Also when you bring in hay you turn that into a form that hopefully will be adding to fertility. When you buy ferlilizer to grow hay here it is a big gamble. You still need rain and have to cut rake bale and move. One more thought on the costs of equipment. I would rather have money in a no till drill than a baler if I could buy hay. I keep thinking of things to add because I guess this is a subject that passes through my head alot. There are ways to buy hay and dont wait until you need it to buy. Think now about next year. If the bales are baled right and have net wrap they will keep well if you stack them in a good location and stack right. Even cover or a barn would be even better. Catch someone with hay left over or a surplus and buy a buch of it. You can deal better and I like to carry hay over and see it similar to a savings account.</p>

Edited by feelnrite 11/11/2012 18:59
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