CRP open for baling

The federal government has decided to open up CRP or diverted acres for baling which will drop the alfalfa market, and as an alfalfa producer now is when I can make money, but when the alfalfa market drops to 90 dollars a ton nobody lines up to offer the alfalfa producer any help. I’ve emailed senators Grassley and Ernst and representative Feenstra to see what the say, rant is over for now just needed a little vent.

I need hay, sucks for alfalfa producers but its good for cow calf guys like me.

So let me understand this correctly. We the US taxpayers pay to have you farmers set aside acres of crop land into grasslands and then when summer hits and the rains dry up farmers cry “uncle” and the government agencies allow you to now harvest a crop of hay off these acres you were already were paid to not raise a crop on. Am I understanding this correctly?

I understand where a cattleman whose pastures have dried up maybe using government set aside acres to pasture his cattle but I see farmers that haven’t raised a head of livestock in years selling bales of hay off their CRP acres doubledipping.

You would be correct beeman.

CRP raises hay values every year that is not a drought and lowers them when it is.

Similar to the AG tags given for deer here. Not open to anyone to hunt but the landowner given tags to kill any deer they wish.

Heck of a deal, ain't it?

This happens more then you think.

Well,I for one think the farmer, rancher or whatever should take all they can. The government wastes so much of our money, the little bit the farmer gets is irrelevant. Yes it is a heck of a deal.

It would be a heck of a deal if we all got to double dip, but we don't.

FWIW, when USDA - FSA releases CRP for hay in drought areas, the CRP payment is reduced by $ xyz (as set in the respective state) for the haying.
Unfortunately, most CRP has a high "TDN" value, which is lower digestibility
by ruminants, but it's still feed where feed is needed.

I agree. If everyone had to work as hard as farmers/ranchers there would be alot of bellyaching.
Some places let ag producers mow and bale roadsides too. That's up to the supervisors in that state district.

Don’t think so Crop tags aren’t funded with taxpayer money. If I had known about CRP/ crep programs 20 years ago I’d be a land Barron In 2019 I was looking at farms that still had 5-7 years left on 15 years of payments. One in particular was earning 8600 per year for 15 years! 129,000 over the life of the contract. He only paid 76,000 for the land 126 acres in 2009 .

I haven't seen 90 ton alfalfa in years, its been 200-250 for some time in nebraska, south dakota, north dakota and kansas, you need to start selling it elsewhere if thats what your selling it for, there is a government program out there right now that reimburses ranchers for having to haul hay in

I think you mean or ment that the CRP hay has high NDF and not high TDN. TDN is total digestable nutirients and higher numbers are good. High NDF means lots of fiber, much of which is not highly digestable.
1st cutting of CRP hay in August is really fodder and keeps say gestating beef ruminents alive and maintained and would need supplimentation. I can see it may drop alfalfa prices some but high quality alfalfa is much more a dairy herd forage or other high quality animal forage. The big thing about great plains alfalfa and Manitoba alfalfa coming to say WI, MI etc is trucking costs. If hay sells at our local hay sales for $200-240 per ton and it comes from say western NE, probably half that cost is trucking per ton or 120 plus or minus. There is a lot of CRP land not far from those beef herds in the drought areas. During exceptional drought times this has been a common practice. The only reason that the beef raisers are paying really high prices for forage is that their animals are worth 75% or more than they were 3-4 years ago. The beef cow herd is the lowest it has been since 2013-14 and with high feed prices and limited feed, the heifers are being sold instead of retained so the herd will not grow too fast. Dairy farmers are really benefiting from these shortages. Big, good conditioned Holstein cull cows are bringing $1.10-$1.25 per lbs.! They can sell a 1600 lbs. cull cow for $2K and buy a springer for $1700.
Many larger farms near me are using sexed semen on their better cows and heifers and beef bulls on as much as half the herd and those crosses are worth 2-2.5 times as much as a Holstein calf.
Bryce

Baling crp would be just bailing poor value weeds. Ok maybe for long horns. Would not be worth much and nothing I would feed unless it was a last resort. Nice hay fields are not what you get when it's been in crp.

If you have nice alfalfa your market will not be the same. Most likely horse hay would be where I would market it

don't badmouth farmers with your mouth full

You are correct Bryce, appreciate the correction. Was tired and obviously not thinking clearly. We tested some CRP hay we purchased vack in 2013 when we went through a severe drought ourselves. Not much value for the money, unless one would soak a bale with molasses.

I don’t agree with it but they do it all the time. The producer dose loose his payments or a percentage of them. Bob around here they have bailed every acre of CRP the last 2 years and it didn’t affect the price of alfalfa at all.

The CRP I had experience with in Kansas would not be much (if any) benefit to livestock unless there was absolutely nothing else for them to eat

X2

You win!

The market is already getting lower, in Rock valley the quality alfalfa is already lost 40 a ton, it’s hasn’t been that long ago that it was 90 a ton especially when factoring in trucking right now it’s costing me 40 dollars a ton to ship to Rock Valley which is the closet best market, the reason it drops the market is it takes the beef producers out of the alfalfa market the dairy producers are still there. Moving the grass does happen my truckers haul that to the auction about every year. I think what makes me so upset about this year is we are looking at some of the highest calf prices ever in this country and if cow calf guys have to pay more for alfalfa now it’s getting offset, it’s not like their looking at low calf prices, sure is they don’t give the feed yards cheap corn when it hits 7 dollars.

Is there much crp left in your area most of it if not all of it in my area has been taken out in
Last several years with really high cash rent prices

I own a WRP (Wetland Reserve Program) property. Have owned it for 24 years. Got a letter this year allowing baying on the enrolled acres. I had very good orchard grass and a patch of eastern gama grass. I let a cattleman/neighbor/friend take the hay. He got 44 bales. They’ve never allowed haying on WRP before.
Everyone’s hay is making less than 1/2 of normal due to the drought. We have had a ton of rain in the past 10 days. They’ll get a second cutting later .

less hay fewer cows higher meat prices more hay more cows cheaper meat prices

Not sure what your talking about when it comes to hay market .
Rock Valley 7/6/23 , Alfalfa - A low of $185.00 ton for 1st cutting . To a high of $252.50 a ton for second cutting

Other than if a guy needs a protein source and if alfalfa is cheaper than distillers there's no reason to buy dairy hay for beef cow's

Softer market probably coming from the dairies that have been loosing money for to long and can't justify paying a ridiculous price and are sourcing protein elsewhere

Due to a very dry 2/3ds of May, all of June and most of July our alfalfa and alfalfa mixes were short for 2nd and 3rd. With the rain and heat our 4th is now as good as our 3rd and has a few weeks to go. Stands were and are dense so there will be a lot of alfalfa haylage made around me in August, September and early Oct. Not cheap to harvest 4-5 crops but lower cost than buying. I fed late cut 1st crop Reed Canary Grass to my beef cows one winter. I supplemented that with about 4 lbs. of grain and I sprinkled molasses on the hay. Amazing how beef cows can maintain themselves on some really poor feed.

Bryce

You're right DHH for 7/6 it was still high now in August it has dropped to the high being 200 they have been overrun with bad grass hay that the beef producers are buying, I was told by an individual that I trust vary much to wait until October December with anymore I'm going to bale I had trucks lined up to haul what I I had so I wasn't going to back out because they need to make a living also.

Not the farmers it is still the government.

went to the local cattle auction today ran in some nice 1400 to 1500 3rd peroid cows couldnt get a bid on them by the head so sold them by the pound a pound buyer bought them to go to slaughter

Good lord.
How old were they and how many were there?

Thing is how big and how much did they bring? Some of these heavy cull cows are bringing real good money, some of these guys with 1700 lb cows are getting over 2k a head by the pound. Sell the old heavy cows, replace them with heifers and still be money ahead.

Bob Iowa, I wish I lived next door to you. I would love to have some alfalfa hay. But the trucking is cost prohibitive.

The haying option is part of the deal and thank goodness for it. Lots of acres would never be enrolled without it. It’s a win win.

Amen

If it makes you feel any better, I'm getting $320 a ton for good quality mixed grass hay, put up right and sold as 50 pound small square bales. I could sell 4X as much if I had it. But the people paying that have come to trust that I won't sell them moldy ditch weeds. I marvel at some of the stuff still being rolled up. If that was all they had to eat, an animal would starve to death with a full belly. Most of the people that buy from me have all been burned by that before.

The flip side was a local goat herder that had to liquidate her herd as she had no forage (pastures burnt up in drought) and no money to buy hay, even if she could find it. After the fact she found out there was government money to buy hay, even if it had to be shipped in.

It has become apparent to me that farming the government is harder to do that farming the land, but may be more lucrative.

you can buy anything you want you just need money and a lot of trucks feeding hay and silage in july verses high cattle prices is sending a lot of cattle to market some guys try to get a little extra by selling them as bred cows but they end up going to slaughter

And have you noticed how nice the ditches look when they allow this? The ranchers keep the trash cleaned up so the hay isn't contaminated and the state does not have to pay for as much mowing.

Here a lot has been enrolled besides the mowing part, the last wetland I knew that was put in two years ago went in for 300 an acre, some wild flower went in a year ago was 350 now as far as the wild flowers I’m not sure if you could mow and bale, the cow price is down but their selling calves for 2.50 plus, the link is for last week, I have got an official response from my congressman or my senator’s yet.

https://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/lswnfss.pdf