Green Feed.....money maker or not?

[WiltonRanch]

Don’t get sucked in to growing greenfeed unless there are no other options. I grow enough to feed my own critters but none to sell because when I have excess it’s usually not worth selling and when it is worth selling it’s not a big yield. Biggest portion of price is trucking. Like horse said hay is 3 cents and decent greenfeed you’d be lucky to get that. So typical greenfeed yield around here is 3 1750lb bales. You happen to get 3 cents that is a return of $160 per acre. Do your math.

[ajl]

Thanks for the laugh AB5. Best thing on a day that I will lose the driveway to mud. That is exactly how it goes with green feed. I rolled a few last year after seeding barley in some low spots. Though it was not bad but was as hot a a firecracker not long after.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

That said, if you have a guaranteed market close by, putting up baleage or even silage is an excellent way to do it. But your economical market is limited to a much smaller radius.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

I should also add that most buyers seem to think that the feed market is more like a charity.

[AllisWD45]

Anyone have experience with making greenfeed using glyphosate to dry it down. Used to do quite a bit in another life when i farmed. Would apply chemical when it was ready to cut and let it dry down for 2-3 weeks. I cut it with a 25 Ft swather let it lay for a day or so and baled. Made some really good feed that tested up and the cows loved it.Made it much easier to work with weather problems. Barley or triticale worked best.So did red proso millet but you had to really pay attention to timing of spraying. Oats not so much as it tended to grow tall and rank and made poorer feed even with this system.

[farmaholic]

That said, if you have a guaranteed market close by, putting up baleage or even silage is an excellent way to do it. But your economical market is limited to a much smaller radius.

AF5, That's what I was going to suggest. Wrapped bales for silage if you can seldom get it dry. Make lemonade with lemons. But I bet it's a pricy way to put up feed. WTF do I know....

[helmsdale]

Sssssshhhh!!!!!!

All of sudden all the BTOs will be growing greenfeed.

Might be the only money maker out there this year....considering the weather .....

There is a shortage of straw right now in southern Alberta

Most guys around here are scrounging for bedding! Feed running short as well. Many guys are buying essentially weed bales that were unsalable to any discerning buyer this last fall/summer.

Otherwise, $200/mT seems a little high... In the worst of years here, it has peaked at around $150. At that, alot ends up being baled up past the point of "green feed", and usually ends up as straw with a little grain in it. Lots of fields are sold, essentially buyer beware at an agreed upon $/ac. 2015 some stuff traded hands at $200/ac with yield likely around 1.5mT/ac.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

AF5, That's what I was going to suggest. Wrapped bales for silage if you can seldom get it dry. Make lemonade with lemons. But I bet it's a pricy way to put up feed. WTF do I know....

Wrapping is Definitely more expensive, and labour intensive , but ruining good feed by getting it rained on is expensive too. Biggest issue is the freight, hauling small heavy bales with a short shelf life.

[grassfarmer]

Ssshhhheeeee!

Don't tell gasgrazers' neighbors. He won't be able to con them into delivering two cent a pound hay to his yard!

If that's referring to me dumbass I didn't con anyone. I offered a guy money for poor hay he was going to burn otherwise and paid to get it loaded and trucked here. It's called business - or is it only whiney little grain farmers that are allowed to buy their inputs as cheap as possible?

As far as greenfeed prospects this year feed inventories on cattle operations in the southern prairies are pretty low now. If there is another widespread drought there will be considerable demand for feed. On the other hand I would expect oat acres to go up this year anyway with the price oats have been and now the chance of later seeding dates. I wouldn't bank on getting more than 3c/lb for good greenfeed if it were me. Pit silage works if you have buyers within 5 miles, bale silage for sale is high risk - I don't think there are many cattle guys left prepared to pay what that costs to produce then truck, unless again the buyer is within 5 miles - in which they could make it in a pit for half the cost.

[malleefarmer]

Am i missing something greenfeed is hay?