1 / 28

Silage and Haylage: facing new economic realities

Silage and Haylage: facing new economic realities. Stan Smith Fairfield County, OSU Extension. Disclaimer . . . Considering the way we’ve done it for decades, some of this may seem extreme . . . Questions / Concerns ??? No problem, I’m from the government and I’m here to help!. Background.

presley
Download Presentation

Silage and Haylage: facing new economic realities

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Silage and Haylage:facing new economic realities Stan Smith Fairfield County, OSU Extension

  2. Disclaimer . . . Considering the way we’ve done it for decades, some of this may seem extreme . . . Questions / Concerns ??? No problem, I’m from the government and I’m here to help!

  3. Background The rules of the game have changed . . . • For years, hay and forage production has been consistent . . . In most cases yielding 2 to 4 tons of average quality forage per acre. • During the same time, corn and other row crop production has increased nearly two fold. • The result: costs of traditionalforage production per unit of nutrient have increased significantly more than corn!

  4. The response . . . Option #1 (you’ve seen this guy before!) the same old, same old ! ! !

  5. Option #2, The opportunity . . . When evaluating ‘whole farm’ profitability, shall we consider a totally new (?) concept . . . a THREE crop (plus one?) rotation . . . Corn, Soybeans, and Wheat (plus a second crop of . . . forage ? ? ?)

  6. Avg. Hay Yield by County(ton / acre) 20052006 2 yr. ave. Athens 2.34 2.15 2.245 Fairfield 3.51 2.89 3.200 Highland 2.87 2.60 2.735 Knox 3.23 2.95 3.090 Average 2.99 2.65 2.817 Ohio’s average hay yield was 2.93 tons/ac in 05-06 @ 10% moisture, that’s 2.64 tons/ac dry matter

  7. Avg. Corn Yield by County(bu / acre) 20052006 2 yr. ave. Athens 119 155 137 Fairfield 108 166 137 Highland 137 154 146 Knox 145 161 153 Average 127 159 143 Ohio’s average corn yield was 151 bu/ac in 05-06 harvested as corn silage = 7.35 tons/ac dry matter

  8. Result . . . With high yielding, high valued crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat competing for every acre, we need to take a hard look at land use and least cost feed nutrient production, and harvest and storagealternatives for our individual operations!

  9. Hay versus Corn BudgetOSU Extension, Crop Budget spreadsheets 2.8 tons @ $80 returns negative $53.18 per ac. to L & M ($100/ac rent) 143 bu corn @ $4.90 returns $240.32 per ac. to L & M ($100 /ac. rent)

  10. Hay versus Corn Using the OSU Budgets Hay . . . 2.8 tons, or 2.5 tons dry matter Total cost of production = $330.56 $0.066 per pound of dry matter nutrient Corn . . . 143 bushels, or 7 tons silage (DM) Total cost of production = $570 $0.041 per pound of dry matter nutrient

  11. Hay versus Corn Using the OSU Budgets Corn, produced at $0.041 per pound of dry matter nutrient is not only less expensive per nutrient to produce, but it has . . . TWICE as much energy per pound, with Nearly 3 TIMES the productivity per acre! With high land values, productivity is precious!

  12. We might even add another crop after the silage?

  13. Plus … • Where do you store your hay? • How do you feed it? • Is it time to PLAN to BUNK feed cows in winter and when pasture is resting in late summer?

  14. You’ve seen this data before … Hay feeding systems

  15. Hay barn, or ‘commodity’ barn?

  16. $100 + per ton !

  17. $100 + per ton !

  18. Or . . .

  19. Or . . .

  20. Or . . .

  21. Silage mixed with distillers, and other co-products! Custom harvest and bagging adds ~ $0.01 to cost of a pound of dry matter. Distillers can be purchased at significant savings at times. Flour or midds? Or . . . Could we consider selling corn grain, and buying hay?

  22. Option #2, The opportunity, cont . . . The past 3 years, average Ohio corn, bean & wheat yields • Corn, 2005-07, 151 bushels per acre • Soybeans, 2005-07, 46 bushels per acre • Wheat, 2005-07, 67 bushels per acre • Which is the most profitable ? ? ? • Using Monday’s (March 3, 2008) cash crop bids, and the OSU Budgets . . .

  23. Option #2, The opportunity, cont . . . Returns to the land project at: • Corn, $352.89 • Soybeans, $354.57 • Wheat, $335.56 + $23.10 (straw)= $358.66 • Which is the most profitable ? ? ? • Environmentally friendly ? ? ? • Let’s look at “life after wheat”

  24. Option #2, The opportunity, cont . . . • Do we need a place to haul manure nutrients? • Do we need to trap or utilize manure nutrients? • Do we need additional forage, or cash grain income? • Double crop soybeans, gross returns: 20 bu. X $13.75 = $275 dollars per acre • Double crop oat forage, gross returns: 4 tons X $100/ton = $400 dollars per acre

  25. All things considered . . . Hay, or ? With high yielding, high valued crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat competing for every acre, there’s far less economic incentive to grow hay for livestock feed. Is it time to get back to a corn, beans and wheat/oats rotation? And better utilize annuals and crop residues ?

  26. Could oats be our most productive FORAGE?

  27. Think about the reality of row crop profitability While we’ll take a closer look at using oats as a forage base

More Related