[Trainee Farmer Ted]

How much should I expect to pay for someone to come and cut and bale 2 acres into small bales?
And how many bales would you expect to get?

[SallyintNorth]

How long's a piece of string...

Where are you?  Up here (north of England), hay needs to be worked, so you'd be asking someone to cut, strow out, woofle, woofle again, probably woofle again, row up, bale.  Further south you may only need to cut, strow out, row up and bale.  Maybe woofle once.

Also depends on the thickness of the crop, how dry it is, what the weather is doing.

You'd have people available to stack the bales?

Estimate anywhere between 60 and 90 bales / acre.  Probably about 4 hours work overall if the field is flat and easy to manoeuvre around.  Plus time getting to and fro for at least 2, possibly 3 or 4 visits.  And diesel for all.

Anything from £20 - £30/hour is reasonable for a contractor plus equipment, and expect to pay for travelling time too.  Ours charges very slightly less but uses the farmer's diesel.

BH reckons it costs us £2/bale (using our own labour and equipment) to make small bale hay.  Hereabouts it sells for £4 a bale in a good year.

[Daisys Mum]

I did it last year hiring someone to do it for me...never again it ended up costing over £4 a bale for mediocre hay when I can buy good quality hay for £3 a bale so unless the quality is very good I wouldn't bother

[devonlad]

we paid about £1.50 a small bale last summer getting approx. 100 bales off of just over an acre. it took us ages to find someone with a small baler though.

[Bramblecot]

If you can find somone who will do it, snap up the offer, and make friends with them .

[si-mate]

Depends on how far I would have to travel but:

I would want about 50p / bale to bale it and leave it in 8's


about £35 to mow


about £30 a time to turn x 4


about £30 to rake


If you were next door then it would be a fair bit less, if it was 15 mins plus each way on the tractor it would be more.


Assuming it hasn't had any fertiliser I would expect this year 80 - 100 bales per acre.


But I would expect you to tell me when you want it mowing and baling, if it gets rained on and ruined I would still want paying!

[Backinwellies]

We have just decided to buy this year.  Last year it cost us over £3 a bale (charged at £20/hr) .. stressful with weather here in Wales.  and we can buy in good hay for not much more

[Castle Farm]

I get mine big bales and I do the turning myself.


Last year I took 53 bales and it cost me £7 each. That's for cutting and wrapping.


Booked to have it done today or tomorrow, so lets hope the weather holds.