# Value of established hay field



## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Hi all,

I'm hoping you can help me with something.

As most of you know, I've been looking at property, usually just plain land but there are some variations.

Prices seem to vary quite a bit. I've seen land for right around $1k/acre. And I've seen people asking upwards of $7k/acre. Same general area.

There isn't a lot of crop farming around these parts but there is a fair bit of pasture of differing quality, some hay.

Some land I've seen is more or less just overgrown pasture land, the kind that after bush hogging a few times and maybe getting a few of the larger tree type volunteers out, would make for decent field to plow and begin working up for field crops. 

Some land is just old woods that no one has bothered with for a while or woods that might have been select cut. (Not much interested I clear cut pieces so haven't paid much attention there.)

But last week, I ran across a place that's about half wooded and about half in a fairly nice hay field, maybe 10 to 12 acres in hay. 

It's a decent looking hay field. But I can't get a straight answer as to what kind of production value comes out of a plot of hay like that. In my own crude estimation, I might guess that a field like that, if I had my own equipment to cut and bail, would probably bring around $6000/yr in revenue. I would think a good year might bring more, but I'd rather be conservative. If I'm way off about that, please correct me!! I want to know. The current arrangement is that one of the neighbors cuts it, bales it and keeps the hay in exchange for keeping after the field. Doesn't sound like the current owner gets much benefit at all, which doesn't make it sound all that "valuable" to me. (?)

I didn't recognize the hay exactly. It's not alfalfa or clover. I'm thinking it's timothy hay but that's an off handed guess.

Ok, so how would a person go about putting a value on that as opposed to just the overgrown pasture I described above? I'm willing to entertain the idea that it's more valuable than basic scrub land but I'm not getting a huge difference. This place is priced at premium prices. It's also been sitting for quite a while and an offer for less was made and accepted before the sale fell through, so I know it's negotiable. 

I get so frustrated at seeing people price properties at "sucker prices". But it's awfully hard to try to get a handle on just what a property is really worth.

No two properties are alike. And they all have an owner with a different story. Some are upside down and want to milk every cent they can get to pay off their loans whether the property is worth it or not. 

I'm finding realtors to be pretty lacking in helpful information and generally only want to show me their listings, even when I ask about others. They also want to keep their tellings of average land prices well up into the area of the property they happen to be showing me at the time. 

Other than making some lowball offers, I'm just not seeing much right now that's talking to me. The half hay / half woods property kinda intrigues me but their price seems to be way out of line. A little selective logging might get a little out of the woods, but not nearly enough to make up for that high price. And I don't know how to really value a producing hay field in dollars per acre of sale price. 

Anyway, if you have some thoughts, I'd be interested.


----------



## Conhntr (Aug 7, 2010)

Get an exlusive buyers agent.


----------



## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

If it hasn't been mowed or hayed in several years, not worth much more than dirt. Worth is how good it is, how much and what you want to do with it. If all you want to do is hunt the land, not worth much at all. How much it costs you to plant pasture added to base price would give you some idea. I have some equipment and the use of the rest. My cost is fuel, spray, seed and fert. You will have to figure what it is worth to you....James


----------



## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

For hay and on that small a piece, you probably don't save or make anything. You just know the quality of the hay. Unless it was planted in the last 3 years and was done right, I would not pay extra....James


----------



## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

I think a nice hay field is like a new roof on a house. It's not worth any extra because you would expect it to be good. The chances that you are going to find a full time farmer buying a smaller farm is not good, and most mini farm buyers don't have a use for a hayfield.


----------



## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

If it's a small plot of hay, it's not worth much. I can't get anyone to bale mine.


----------



## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Thanks, all. That's about what I was expecting. In all fairness, it is a fairly nice hay field and appears to be well taken care of. I don't know how long it's been there. Info seems to be a little lacking... (previous owner passed away in an accident and owners wife doesn't seem to be all that up to speed on much.)

And to be practical, it wouldn't really be of much value to me. I don't intend to have animals that will be eating it. I would like to have some hay but I was thinking more along the lines of alfalfa hay which has a very deep root system to send way down in to the soil to mine those minerals... and use pieces of ground like that in rotation with some of my food plots. I'm sure I'd want to use some of the hay as mulch as well but wouldn't necessarily need 10 or 12 acres worth of it. 

I appreciate the perspective. I've never been a hay farmer. Didn't know if I might be missing something important.

Thanks!


----------



## weedlady (Sep 26, 2005)

We have about 10 acres of hay field on our place in Michigan. It's mixed grasses, good hay, not great.
Our neighbor up there takes care of it for us (he gets to keep the hay). He usually gets 8 or 9 large round bales each year. We are too far north-rarely get a second cut.
How much money you could get out of it, of course, depends on the going rate for hay.
Hope that helps a bit
Martha


----------

