[plt102]

Hi there, looking to put together a business plan to get a loan from bank to buy some land. How many bales of hay might I expect to get from 6 acres?

[Factotum]

I'm afraid that's a 'how long is a piece of string' question.

It depends on location of land, state of land, type of grass, health of the soil...

As an example  the yield from one of our fields can nearly triple after the application of lime to correct the acidity and then a good dose of fertiliser to improve the potassium, phosphate and magnesium.

To get a reasonable answer you will need to give a bit more info.


Sue

[robert waddell]

yes the old Indian rope trick      if you are buying it to make money and service the loan tell us your secret   put nothing on the land you will get a crop of sorts but every year it gets less and less     do you have equipment already can you make good hay  or haylage    just because prices appear to be up this year for hay can you sell in a bumper year     if you want big crops you have to apply manure SFS were advertising manure in small lots  you would need a ton for your field never mind lime and possibly phosphate   then there is the grass itself will it need to be reseeded what type of grass is it Will it respond to fertilizer treatment      in all honesty i can see the banker and possibly arranging for the men in white coats     but in the back of my mind it could be you want to try for planning for this field   sheep if you have them would be a better option and could just swing it in your favour       but only you know the answers to the questions not even asked yet

[lachlanandmarcus]

OK if you are being fairly conservative and not planning on putting much back onto the land and it is just a meadow not a sown grass crop then you could probably reckon on 100 small bales to the acre, provided the weather is OK to get it in in the main hay window - later eg August/Sept will be lower yield and lower quality tho it can be popular for horses.
Just as a figure to put in that wont be far wrong as a base : with fertilising/liming and a folloing wind it could be 50% more but 100 is a base.
hope that helps, it is a piece of string but you have to start somewhere when you have to provide figures!

[plt102]

That's great. Thanks. I'm just trying to look at different options at the moment. We have sheep, horses, pigs and chickens and I would also like to improve the value of the land by trying to get planning for a barn/stables with power and lighting. Just want to get some knowledge about what might be possible in case they start asking hard questions. We would like to extend our mortgage to cover it but it might be that it has to be some sort of business loan. Scary!

[belgianblue]

if you have grass up to your waist and very thick where you can't walk in it, we got 32 5' round bales of 6 acres.