Have you ever considered that haying might not fit your operation anymore? This week on the podcast, Carson Roberts, a University of Missouri state forage specialist with a background in alfalfa production and cattle, discusses why producers must treat haying as a separate business enterprise and know the true cost of production to evaluate profitability.

 

He outlines using regional hay budget sheets and accounting for income, seed, fertilizer, herbicides, custom hire, labor (including the producer’s time), fuel, repairs, overhead, land charge, and especially machinery ownership and opportunity interest. Carson argues hay often becomes unprofitable due to rising and excess equipment costs, over-equipped farms, and mismatched cattle-to-equipment inflation, suggesting some operations may profit more by selling hay equipment, converting hay acres to pasture, and buying tested hay while building reliable supplier relationships. He highlights cheaper feed alternatives such as grazing/stockpiled fescue, corn stalks, and grazing milo, and notes that aligning calving date with spring forage can reduce winter hay needs and costs.

 

Links and Resources

Learn more about Cargill here: https://bit.ly/4e1qygS

Learn more about Corteva here: RangeAndPasture.com/CattleConversations

Learn more about CattleScales Here: https://bit.ly/4dqqTtr

 

Catch more conversations like this one and learn more at https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/

 

 

02:56 From Agronomy to Forages

05:00 Why Know Hay Costs

06:52 Building a Hay Budget

11:31 Equipment Overload Trap

15:50 When Hay Doesn’t Pencil

19:45 Scale and Reality Check

22:10 Buying Hay Strategically

26:43 Grazing Beats Haying

29:32 Hay Testing and Sourcing

33:11 Winter Grazing Options

36:35 Calving Date and Profit

39:40 Weaning Weights Myth