When I took algebra in the 8th grade, I was thoroughly convinced there was no way it would ever be useful for the rest of my life. Did you feel the same? For most of my life safety experts have claimed that agriculture is a very dangerous job. Let’s see if I can prove myself wrong in more ways than one.
This year has been a hay maker’s dream, so far. As of this writing. I have already completed almost 2/3rds of my hay fields for their first cutting. One of my steadfast rules through the 1990’s and 2000’s was, “Never try to make hay in May.”
About 5-6 years ago, I started to cheat on that rule for several reasons. Planting of row crops had started much earlier than three decades ago, and the weather during the end of May started to become much more conducive to drying and baling hay. But this comes with a severe consequence. The yield, measured in bales per acre, is usually much lower if hay is harvested in May versus mid-June. The quality is better, but most of the hay used in Will County is not fed to livestock raised as an important part of the food chain but for large pets like horses. Do they really need higher quality hay?
Hopefully, this first weekend of June or by the time you read this article some rains will have arrived and alleviated our recent dry spell. My weekly weather email stated that the month of May was the 123rd driest of the last 133 years for the Chicago metro region. Thank goodness the 45 days before May were incredibly wet, almost 12 inches of rain in 45 days.
It is my belief that many farmers have lost interest in adding the tedious job of haymaking to their operation. The last couple of months showed there was a shortage of the product before the hay season arrived. This spring I have been asked about a dozen times to do custom hay work.
When we have weeks upon weeks with no rain, strong winds, warm temps and nights with no dew, combined with low yields speeding up harvest, I am almost encouraged to say yes to some of these extra jobs. However, all I have to do is drive a couple of miles on roads around my farm and realize most of the motorists today have little to no regard for my safety; they are so reckless with traffic laws like speed limits and safe/legal passing. My life is indeed at risk every time I take my hay equipment on the road.
I thought farming was dangerous due to the risk of tractor rollovers, grain entrapments, crushing injuries or entanglements with rotating equipment. If I decide to travel the roads to harvest more hay fields, I am convinced that being on the road will be the most dangerous part of my job. Is the lure of extra income worth it? Is there another option to increase revenue?
Let’s assume I expect to gross $1200/acre on my hay fields where I would normally plant corn or soybeans. Let’s also assume I expect x number of bales to the acre on my well managed fields. How much do I sell my bales for? 1200÷x=y. If my overall yield is only 2/3rds of normal, is it fair to sell my bales for more to equal the same gross revenue per acre? If I sell my bales with only 2/3rds of expected yield, how much do I gross per acre? x X y=? Now I am completely confused. I do not even know if my algebra equation is right. Perhaps I really did not need to know algebra to be a farmer.
Maybe I should follow the suit of other local businesses: Start charging a fuel surcharge as well as a loading fee and institute a convenience fee for texting and each conversation. I could be creative and add an environmental fee for each bale that is thistle free, and claim it is non-GMO, locally sourced, gluten free and with no added hormones or antibiotics. I could deceive the customer by asking a reasonable price for my product and then tack on “hidden” fees after loading the product.
Or maybe I just plan my retirement and move to Hawaii. I wonder if they bale hay in Hawaii? OMG, I might be addicted to making hay!
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