Erin Jenkins, Kerr Center 2013 Oklahoma Beginning Farmer & Rancher Program Livestock - June 2013

1. The Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Erin Jenkins
The True Cost of Hay

2. Factors to Consider…• Equipment and
maintenance
• Fuel
• Labor
• Fertilizer application
• Soil Testing
• Hay Test Analysis
• Fertilizer application
• Planting and harvesting
• Seeds
• Application
• Labor
• Hauling and Feeding
• Storage

3. Equipment and Maintenance
Equipment and maintenance required for planting and harvesting hay
• Current market value of machinery and equipment.
• Machinery depreciation- the declining value of assets.
• Wage rate- total cost of labor involved in hay harvest and planting.
• Annual cost of supervisory management- Management overseeing
hay harvest and hauling
• Fuel used for planting, harvesting, and hauling hay.
• Insurance rate for the machinery and equipment as a percentage of
it’s total market value.
• Annual repair costs
• Miscellaneous costs- hay-wrap, twine, or wire per bale.

4. Calculating Cost at Harvest
Operation Average Cost per Acre
*Cutting, Raking, Baling Large Bales $26.00
*Flat Rate of Hauling 1 Round Bale $5.75
Total $31.75 round bale/acre
* Doye, Damona, and Roger Sahs. Oklahoma Farm and Ranch Custom Rates, 2011-2012.
Publication no. CR-205. N.p.: Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, n.d. Print.

5. What’s being taken out of the field?
*Analysis Result
ADF, Fiber 51 %
Crude Protein 9 %
Moisture 12.1 %
TDN 51.55 %
Nitrogen 1.45 %
Total Calcium 4,735 mg/Kg
Total Potassium 12,200 mg/Kg
Total Magnesium 1,745 mg/Kg
Total Phosphorus 1,840 mg/Kg
Total Sulfur 1,395 mg/Kg
Average hay analysis of nutritional value from large round
hay bales.
* Samples were taken from The Kerr Center’s large round
bales.

6. Planting and Fertilizing Calculation
Operation Average Cost per
Acre
Rate Used/Acre
*Disking the soil $12.00 1 Pass ($12.00)
Wheat seed $0.275/lb 15 lbs ($4.13)
*Drill wheat, conventional $10.00 1 Pass ($10.00)
Soil Analysis $10.00 $10.00
DAP (18-46-0) $580/ton ($2.24/lbs) $11.12
Potash (0-0-62) $530/ton ($0.16/lbs) $51.41
Ammonium Nitrate (34-0-0) $470/ton ($0.69/lbs) $65.80
Total: $164.46/Acre
* Doye, Damona, and Roger Sahs. Oklahoma Farm and Ranch
Custom Rates, 2011-2012. Publication no. CR-205. N.p.:
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, n.d. Print.

7. Total Cost per Acre
Average harvest of 1200 pound round bales per acre
is 2.5 bales.
2.5 bales per acre X $31.75 per bale= $79.38 of bales
per acre
$164. 46 + 79.38= $243.84 per acre

8. Fertilizer Application
• Soil fertility- soil’s ability to provide essential plant nutrients in
adequate amounts and proper proportions to sustain plant
growth. It is a component of the soil productivity that is quite
variable and strongly influenced by management.
• Soil management includes using the best available
knowledge, techniques, materials, and equipment in crop
management. Proper utilization of crop residues can be a key
management practice.
• Crop residues returned to the soil can improve soil productivity
through the addition of organic matter and plant nutrients. The
organic matter also contributes to an improved physical
condition of the soil, which increases water infiltration and
storage and aides aeration.
• Before applying fertilizer, a soil test must be done to confirm
what the limiting nutrient(s) is in the soil.

9. When a farmer harvests a field at the end of a season, nutrients are
also being harvested out of the soil. Unless hay is fed back to the
cattle on the same ground it is grown, nutrients can be lost. There is
a cycle in which the plant takes up nutrients it needs, and when it
dies many of the nutrients, such as nitrogen, is released back into
the soil. When the plant is harvested and taken away, nutrients must
be replaced if a desirable crop is to be grown the next year. Ground
cover is also lost in this process, which can lead to topsoil erosion.

10. Hauling and Feeding
• The cost of hauling hay out of the field to the storage
barn, then from the storage barn to the field, can be time
and fuel costly.
• Feeding methods can also have an effect on how much
loss you can have.
• Feeding hay without a
• feeder can bring a loss
• up to 50%.
• Cattle tug and pull the
• hay loose and stomp it
into the soil where it
becomes spoiled.

11. Storage
There are two main ways to store hay bales
Outdoor
Storage
Indoor (Barn)
Storage

12. Storage InsideAdvantages
• Can reduce soil moisture/hay contact,
• Reduce outdoor precipitation,
• Reduce loss to spoilage.
• Increase hay nutritional value
Disadvantages
• Decreased storage space
• Increase in accidental incidents such as bales
falling.
• Damage to barns if too much pressure is built on
the side walls.
• Welcoming environment for unwelcome critters

13. Storage Outside
Advantages
• Increased storage space
• Less wildlife interference
Disadvantages
• Increase moisture and spoilage
• Less nutritional value
• Heat exposure

14. Storage Outside
Storing bales on pallets or
gravel rows will help decrease
ground moisture spoilage.
Bales should not be stacked if
they are stored outside. If they
are, then a tarp or covering
should be applied.

15. Ways to Decrease the Need of Hay
Grazing management- the manipulation of animal grazing to
achieve optimum and sustained animal, plant, land, environmental
or economic results while ensuring a continuous supply of forages
to grazing animals.
• Decrease soil and nutrition loss by water runoff,
• Increase infiltration in the soil,
• Maintain high amounts of organic matter to improve rapid
nutrient recycling to the soil,
• To manage a healthy and productive pasture that will
ensure the full productive potential of grazing land.
• Thus, decreasing the amount of fertilizer needed in the
soil, reducing the time and labor needed to harvest, and
decreasing the amount of fuel loss needed to run
equipment for harvesting, hauling, and feeding.

16. Feeding Methods
Modified cone feeder with sheeting
at bottom.
Conventional open bottom steel
ring feeder. Light and
inexpensive, however it can
waste up to 21% of hay.
Conventional steel ring feeder with
sheeting on bottom. Hay wastage can
be reduced to approximately 13%

17. Feeding Methods
A modified cone feeder set
on a trailer.
Feeder with roofing to keep rain
and moisture off of bales.
Feeder is also lifted to prevent
ground moisture.

18. Comparing Skirting Methods
A farmer can save up to 8% of the hay loss just by adding a skirt to the hay ring. 8
percent may not be a whole lot, but lets say a farmer has 100 head of cattle, and in 120
days (the average length of hay feeding period in Oklahoma) those cattle consume 25
pounds per head per day.
120 Days X 100 Head X 25 lbs/Head/Day= 300,000 lbs
300,000 lbs X 8% hay saved= 24,000 lbs hay saved or 12 tons

19. More Over the True Cost of Hay
SunUpTV of Oklahoma State University
Hay Feeders
Hay Feeder Research http://youtu.be/1-u9BUflNN8
Hay Feeder Research: The Results
Efficient Hay Use (11/10/12)
http://youtu.be/3Pljlb0gWP4
http://youtu.be/f5Ou0csDNgY
http://youtu.be/XDf3q3vsVG0

20. Questions??