[SavageU]

So we have a contractor who cuts around 19 acres.

Last year we kept the cut from 1 field of 4 acres of wrapped large round bales.

We aren’t been paid for the rest though, around 90 plus unwrapped bales of say 400.

He is saying the contractor costs of cutting the 4 acres cancels out him paying us for the remaining 15 acres of our grass.

Rounds £5
Unwrapped bales 0.50p

I suspect I have been out manoeuvred here and that this is a bad agreement for me and a good one for him; until now!

[Bywaters]

I agree, it does seem to be in his favour !

I can't compare as I have small bales, however, my invoice for 3 acres of mowing, tedding and rowing up is £190
Factor in the cost of diesel as well , £60 per acre x 19  - not a good comparison as mine are in 2 fields 2 miles apart of crappy roads
I would be wanting at least a 50/50 split

[SavageU]

Thanks for responding.

Other farmers I have spoken to have said that it’s a very low price, £8 would be fairer.

It would be obviously better if we could do it ourselves but as we aren’t getting any money from the grass itself with the farmer currently, we can’t invest.

I’m considering my options but wanted to sound out others so that basically I feel a bit more validated in feeling like I’m been taken for a ride.

I’ve sorted contractor quotes in readiness.

[SallyintNorth]

Factors to consider :

- wrapping is fiendishly expensive, both the wrap and the additional processing (necessitating an additional visit with a different machine).  In my experience, wrapping will more than double, maybe treble the cost of producing a bale. 

- it's impossible to compare costs without knowing the distances involved, as diesel will be one of the biggest costs to the contractor, and unless you're practically next door, travel time will also cost them - one visit for mowing, almost certainly another (or several) for woofling, another for rowing up, another for baling and another for wrapping

- before you upset the contractor you've got, be very sure you can actually get an alternative in place when you need it.  It's all too easy end up "in the right" but with your long grass still on the field as you go into winter...


If you switched to another contractor, would you end up having to sell your surplus?  Can you in practise get surplus hay removed from the fields while it's still good?  What about if it's a bad year and you had to wrap it all, could you then?  (Can stay in the field longer but need squeezy arms to move it.) 

Personally, I'd take the view that my 4 acres wrapped probably cost the same as 12 acres unwrapped, and the contractor is welcome to the remaining 3 acres unwrapped for the conveniences of :

- having a contractor who is reliable and will do what you need when you need it
- not having to have any money changing hands
- not having any worries about disposing of the surplus

[SallyintNorth]

- having a contractor who is reliable and will do what you need when you need it

If you haven't found yourself without this, you may underestimate its value.  It is priceless.  And any new contractor will not have any loyalty to you, so may be fine for the first year but let you down when conditions are trickier, and bigger, longer-standing customers will get the priority. 

Of course you don't want to let your current contractor take the P, but do recognise the value of what you've got when assessing whether or not the arrangement is in fact fair and reasonable.

[twizzel]

We generally will tidy up fields, bale and take the hay/haylage/silage and no money exchanges hands, so I’d say it’s fair- you get bales which have not cost you anything and your fields are tidied up, the farmer gets fodder to feed/sell.


It costs us £10.50 per round bale to bale wrap and stack. Plus cutting/turning it soon adds up.

[SavageU]

Yes there is far more to consider rather than on the face of it, what I have posted it here which I am considering in the background.

Thank you reading these with interest.