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Sunnyside, WA | Price per ton "as fed" means what is delivered to the cow's mouth--not what comes out of the field. If $36 is the "as fed" price, let's go backwards to the standing price in the field. I'll use some generic numbers from this area, and I only can give numbers for bunkers or pits.
Chopping & hauling under 2 miles: $8/ton, packing $1.50/ton, innoculant $.75/ton, Pastic and covering expenses $1.75/ton so that puts the total to $12/ton just to get it put in the pit correctly. That doesn't inlcude shrink (usually 15% on average) or interest on the feed for 7 months on average, or cost of owning the silage storage facility, or removing the silage from the pit to actually feed it to the cows.
$36/ton divided by 1.20 equals $30/ton before harvest and storage cost.
(15% shrink and 8.5% interest for ~7 months average since you feed the silage over about a 14 month period)
Harvest and storage cost is ~$12 (could be high or low)
That puts in the field standing cost at $18/ton.
This is how I figure my silage costs. I can't say it compares much to $4 corn when there is so much more to the harvest costs of silage. Its also interesting that moisture and test weight are always forgotten when comparing to shelled corn. Sometimes timeliness and a staggered harvest can be advantages to corn silage. I'm sure there are some disadvantages though--heavy harvest equipment and lack of OM, but manure adds a lot of the OM back.
I'm not sure if $18/ton is fair or not for you. You haven't said much about the manure hauling arrangements or what else goes on cooperatively between you and the dairyman that may swing in your favor. There always seems to be more to these situations.
If you are in one of these rent and sell the feed back arrangements, prices should be set before the growing season unless you can sell the silage or grain to another party. This seems like a very odd time to be talking price in your situation.
Maybe custom farming and charging for your trips is a better avenue long term. | |
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Corn silage pricing
