Haying In 2023: The Cost Of Keeping Your Livestock Alive 

Having several hobbies/jobs/occupations, enjoy watching people who do what I have to do each day, with real farmers we all know RU-vid helps financially but you/OWL are not hiding who helps you, the camera work is mostly you. Enjoy gardening but am over watching RU-vidrs who try to give the impression that they are experts. Did an apprenticeship 40 years ago was told, you will be always learning, by the old man(now his age), the most truthful thing was taught, my boss at the time was a sexual predator and thought he knew everything about our occupation, the whole time of my Apprenticeship was protected from him by the old men that I worked with, some were WW2 veterans. We farm sheep in New Zealand, make 100 plus medium squares every cut off 20 acres of lucerne, the first cut is balage the second cut is hay, which we ended up with 2 years in the sheds, and 50 bales of balage not eaten last winter, we grow 10 to 15 acres of winter feed Kale or other brassicas, by sowing it later we don't get a 7 ft high crop. We like it to be about waist height. This winter are running more stock due to lots more feed. Lambing has accidentally started, we found a ewe was a ram at shearing, looks like we will have quite a few born before September when they are due to start. But ❤❤❤ your channel its my break at the moment we didn't get a frost last night, so its nice to work outside, when July is usually about staying warm and dry, the mud this year is the worst we have had for a few years, we had a wet summer, autumn and now winter, but the soil temperature is not to cold and the grass is growing, mowed the house lawns last week, but its now too wet yet again. Usually don't mow until late August if lucky.

Congratulations on a decent hay crop. You guys work so hard..you deserve the success. Thanks to Jeff for his continuing help . It means alot.

It's good to see all that hay for your 🐄🐮🐄 from the imperial county California 👍👍🇺🇲

When you do the numbers, it sure does make sense to do your own haying. But having watched you this haying season, I have a good sense of how hard it is. Thanks Mike.

Our wyoming life I hope you have a great weekend and I enjoyed the video

You must be so relieved to have enough feed for the winter. Well done.

Congratulations on a decent haying year. Another job well done.😊🇨🇦🇨🇦

Our wyoming life I hope you have a great weekend

What disking and adding new high-quality seeds to your haying pasters? Living in Casper, Wyoming, I know the wild natural pasters could be better for yield. I know it will be a substantial investment for your ranch. However, you can start with small posters and see how much more or less yield than your natural.

Congratulations on your haying job being done. I didn't realize Jeff is a volunteer. That's amazing! You're very lucky to have him. Take good care on the ranch.

I love baleing hay. So relaxing to me.

Dont forget to add some stacking and transport cost for the bales . AND THEN ALL THE JERKY YOU AND JEFF ATE WHILE BALING 😊. ITS a good harvest of bales this year ...a thankful year

Congratulations on finishing haying. Glad you got a a good harvest. Hope everyone can get some rest. Thanks for sharing.

Congratulations on a successful hay crop. I am sure for as long as you are physically possible to do it yourself, you will. There is a sense of pride saying you did it yourself, especially once it's done. Job well done.

Howdy Mike, I'm glad Haying was a success this year🎉. I know it's hard work, dust and dry but the savings and the stress relief must be Awesome 🌞! JO JO IN VT 💞

If you were able to sell 60 bales a year for $120 a bale you could completely offset your costs and still have your buffer. Glad you guys had some extra to put up this hay season!

ANOTHER FANTASTIC VIDEO THANK YOU MIKE . JEFF YOU ARE A GOD SEND FOR SURE. YOU ARE AN AMAZING FRIEND JEFF.

So glad you were able to finish out this year. It seemed to take forever this season with all the rain! But in the end you got it done! Congrats and much respect to all the hard work put in.

Used to own a trucking company. Most people do not realize it’s the bottom line that matters. That after all the expenses are subtracted. Ranching is a business very much like any other business. It’s a balancing act. 😮

I really enjoy watching your videos. I watch just about every day..Thank you for spending your time making these videos. I used to live on a farm.When I was younger. I’m 68 years old now and have retired.❤

2009 what a year. Your first year haying, that’s the year I went on my first deployment to Afghanistan!!!

Great work on the hay cost explanation, all of which we have done throughout the past 20 years. Most of those numbers are similar to ours, with exception with specific cost in our area, i.e. the fuel cost, the taxes etc... I really like what you did and your approach to haying. Most folks to see that side of the hay cost equation. Thanks Mike, for the awesome video, loved it! Hope your Friday goes great and weekend ahead!

Congratulations on the hay harvest season! You are lucky to have a good team behind you to make it as another year of success!

Thanks for sharing our wyoming life I hope you have a great weekend

Hi Mike, Daniel Schwartz here from wisconsin. I really appreciate the open and honest videos you make about what the true cost of ranching is. In fact your cost/ profit/ numbers videos are my favorite. I have a small farm here and raise a few critturs myself. The first video of yours i ever saw was about how much it cost you to feed a cow through the winter. It was a huge eye opener for me and helped me to come up with a true cost/expense spreadsheet for my own farm! Thanks!

Very happy to hear your success on HAY.

Glad you got it done and a good return. Still got fuel & time to get the hay out of the field & stacked.

Hopefully theres some good thunderstorms willed with rain and little hail so the fields grow a bit more and you can get a great graze back.

Congratulations on the end of a hay season, great video Mike

Mike, great job on the photography for this video and congratulations on a good year for haying

I love seeing your cost breakdowns on different parts of the ranching. This was by far the best one for me recently.

So glad you were able to get your haying done. It is a big job yes, but it is a good feeling to know you have saved your herd for another year or so. Congratulations on a job well done. I so enjoy your way of life and all that Erin is doing also. God bless you and your family.

So, so happy for y'all! The farm is doing well and will continue to get better, I'm sure!

Congratulations on completing having in the very hot sun!

Evening all glad to see you😊

Have a great night😊

I'm glad u got all your hay done love u guys❤

Beautiful land. Good to know haying went well. Wishing more success.

Hay Mike! Congratulations on finishing up your baling! I really enjoyed this video as you sat down and figured out the numbers on the cost of the 2023 haying season! It does pay to cut, rake,and bale your own hay! Thanks again for sharing OWL with us! Until your next video ~~~ Stay safe, healthy and happy! 🐄🐃

Just amazing!! Thanks for sharing.

Very interesting about all this hay. Congratulations on hay. Well done. You and Jeff did a very good job. Thank you so much for sharing. Lots of Love to you all. ❤❤❤❤ Doris, Penrith 🇦🇺🦘

Great insight Thank you for your family, and everyone around you, for your efforts Much appreciated Cheers

🎉CONGRATULATIONS on a GREAT Haying Mike & Erin... Beautiful footage Mike... GBY ALL 🙏❤️💙💖💖💙...💙...💖🤗✝️

Hi Mike Erin & family,congratulations on your haying season!So glad you have enough hay for your animals this winter!Have a great week!Interesting video!🌽🥒🌶️🍅🫑

Thanks for sharing!

Good job, Mike! God bless!

Congrats ! Mike and Jeff from Graduating Hay Class of "2023" awesome job U guys.🍻🍻🍻

Congratulations on a good haying season❗❗

Congrats Mike and thanks for sharing. GOD BLESS

❤😊 congratulations ! Great video Mike..

Thankful for all the rain to guys got to make this beautiful hay crop for you. I have heard around here 30-60 Dollars per bale. Hay is plentiful her in Iowa. Be safe and thank you for sharing.

Yup I paid $150 back in February and $90 recently. Before the drought it was $30

VERY INFORMATIVE 😅Thanks again!!

I am very happy for you, Erin, family, helpers and the animals. In spite of all the other issues that typically go along with ranching, I think you really came out on top this year. Congrats and Be Blessed!

Thanks for the breakdown on the cost. Another year done and off to the next thing that needs to be done on the farm.👍❤️🇨🇦

Congratulations on finishing a crazy hay season! Huge project done and huge accomplishment for the ranch! Alot of work but so important! Again nice work! Another hay season in the book Hell ya!!!!! 🎉

Excellent real world video on the real cost of haying. You and your family are doing a great job.

No matter what the cost, it beats having to buy someone else's hay!

🤗🌟🌻Thanks Mike, for sharing the fundamentals of pricing out the haying in the business of production for your RANCH.💛🐄🐴🤠

$500 in incidentals, Jeff that’s a lot of Mountain Dew! But you have to stay hydrated. Good Job everybody

Congraulation Mike thanks for sharing another wonderful video about haying ❤❤everyone have a bless day😊 see you guys next time on Our Wyoming Life❤❤hugs and prayers

You needed to add overtime to your wage you added even though Jeff volunteers. People expect overtime which is time and half added onto the wage for an hour. If they work Sat and Sunday than it is double time, You have definitely saved a lot of money doing your own haying. Lovely to learn about being a cattle rancher in 2023

Great job with the haying . Nice numbers of bales

Congratulations on a successful haying season, it may not have been as much as you hoped/wanted but when is it? You guys did a hard job as quickly as you could, and I imagine you are very glad to be done with it.

Good video Mike. Amazing how everything adds up and people don't know it

Congratulation on your hay crop this 2023 haying season. Do not forget the hydro or heat when you do repairs. Ok you had a miscellaneous amount. I love haying time. Thank you for passing on your knowledge. ❤

Great video!

Good video, good explanation of the costs involved.

Great news Mike!

Excellent summary comparison.

That was very interesting thank you😊

Congratulations on finishing your haying season in the black.

I love the way you took all the equations and spelled it out.

Good job Mike

Glad that you are pretty much done haying. Judging by the numbers it's worth the time to do haying. Looking forward to seeing your next video. . Be safe on the ranch. Out

Hi Mike, Dont forget cost of net wrap, and cost of gathering and stacking hay. Here in Montana you'll never get the 60% of a share crop as the land owner. I do a couple thousand acres of custom haying and i wont do shares on dryland unless i get a minimum of 60% for myself. My rates are $20 an acre for swathing and $17.5 per round bale or $22.50 per acre whichever comes out to be more, I charge $3.50 per bale to gather at edge of field. No raking charge as i use a 30 foot draper header or 18 foot with merger on the swather. I follow your math pretty well in this video, but don't forget you have some opportunity costs as well, are there other things you could be doing or your equipment be doing to make more income during hay season? Just a thought. Good job getting your hay up so cheap!

Very good and information with lot's of ambition

Where I live custom baling is not done on shares. It’s cost per bale and averages between $20 and $30 per bale. Some ranchers will mow and rake themselves and hire someone to just bale for $12 to $15 per bale. Some still prefer small square bales and will pay between $3 to $5 per bale.

Yayyy!!! It's wonderful there was having to be done and it wasn't a dry year! 🎉😂

4 people running a farm is not small fry, amazing

Plus, your bales are still in the field, but I would think the cost of putting them into your hay yard would be included in that extra $2.50 per bale that you rounded up for your costs. Very good, it's always cheaper to do it yourself. I always enjoy your videos.

Congratulations on this year's haying program. I love haying. Please let me know if you need help in the future. The only machine I've never operator is a round bailer. I'm an old school small square bailer operator. But also love to mow and rake.

The best season is one with no injuries or losses but putting numbers to it definitely makes it make sense after sweating half to death for a solid week or so. Hay costs are half that here in Ohio per bale and it still makes sense to make it yourself after you factor everything in. Job well done fellas

Congratulations on finishing the hay. I hope you get to make small bales for easier grinding into the feed.

I had to pull out my calculator there for a minute I thought you were wrong, silly me, I would love to drive any of the machine except the bailer, a lot of measuring going on. Wow, so is this the first year your not going to buy any Hay? Congratulations 🎉🎉 ❤

Congratulations I know it’s not easy!

im a city gal and really appreciate your videos

Carry ON!! Our hay was dn 50%, we lv in SE Kansas NO H2o !! Row crops day to Day!! Look out Beef Price !!

This was your best video bro

Hi Mike, congrats. You don´t have depreciation put into your calculation which is fine, if the tractors/machines will run for a long time to come. But to make the calculation more detailed, I would put in some amount for reinvest. I am sure your savings compared to buy a bale will still look great. Greetings from Frankfurt Germany

Now that your finished fertilize 1/2 that ground with urea right before a good rain and see the difference it makes on next years crop compared to no fertilizer you’ll be shocked my friend, have the hay you need and even sell some to recoup your cost

Last but not least,all bails are important. Glad y'all had hay this year.

Good! I remember the cost of hay and how hard it was to find last year.

I have learned alot

If hay is your business, there can be/usually is other costs. Grass hay around here gets sprayed for weeds. Cost for the land itself, as it is common for it to be rented.

You can make better decisions when you keep track of your data. Thank you for sharing.

Glad you got it done! Don't get me started on the price of hay as it has never made sense to me. This analysis just helps cement my thoughts. Supply and demand strikes again in the hay buying market.

I checked around on our fb marketplace for baled hay for sale in ohio... chilicothe has them for $60, some in smaller towns at $30-45 and square bales for $5-7 each... you guys did really well for your figures...

Congratulations on a successful haying season. What a cost savings….$20.00 per bale to DIY, vs $120.00 per bale to purchase, plus the delivery charge. Repairs are always going to happen with equipment but not going to have the same repair(s) every year. If you had warmer weather earlier, your yield could have been even better, lowering the total cost per bale even more. No doubt about it, it’s most cost effective to hay yourself, if possible. Thanks for sharing all the numbers with us. Take a few days to relax some, as much as you can, before the next major event. Blessings ❤

You forgot the Net wrap!