Central East River South Dakota | Due to past events, we find ourselves in short supply of alfalfa for our dairy. We broke up old stand last yr and didn't replace it til this spring. Our other existing stand got winter killed and we planted oats and pees in April to try and get a cutting of that before we planted back to silage corn. But with such a cold spring it has only a few inches of growth. So....
Cattle rancher has a qtr of alfalfa that is 11 miles from feed yard, he is willing to sell us his first cutting in the field and he would like us to come back later to cut his forage sorghum with our SPFH. He has a haybine and we have 2 of our own. We also have a windrow merger, JD 7500 SPFH with 15' pickup head, 2 straight trucks, 1 semi w/side dump and 1 semi with 36' end dump. How should a guy figure out fair costs? I should be able to buy good dry alfalfa bailed for $200/ton. So what should a guy value standing alfalfa with the idea I have to process it myself. What is Haybining worth? I don't want to jab him full on custom rates, but I can't beat up my equipment for fuel costs either.
Also, another rancher neighbor has 3 qtrs of alfalfa about 6 miles away from us and he has approached us in the past to custom cut his first cutting. We said we are not in the custom market but we have thought maybe approaching him about doing it on shares. What is an appropriate share percentage?
Didn't know if any of you guys have any experience with that. Thanks. |
? about buying standing alfalfa, using own SPFH
