Custom hay baling is now available on small acreages. 

Farmers on small European farms routinely bale hay in small round bales. (40 - 90 pounds)  Our baler is manufactured in Italy by the Tunutti company.  We have located a natural sisal twine to tie the bales that is available untreated.  The twine can be disposed of in the compost pile instead of the landfill like wire or plastic twine.   The baler is light enough to be pulled with a team of draft horses or a small tractor.   (15 horsepower minimum)  The use of draft animals will compliment our commitment to low impact sustainable farming.

This unique baler will fit between the rows of a vineyard or bale on hilsides.  It is easliy transported by trailer to the hay field.  Smaller fields that are not worth the set up time for larger pieces of equipment are now harvestable.

The finished bales "unroll" for feeding and we have found the best way to store them is by stacking them on end. (3 bales stacked on end makes a column about 7 feet tall and that is as high as we can comfortably lift by hand.)  The 50# or so bale size is easy to handle even if you can't lift 50# because you can "roll" the bale along the ground or up a ramp!

COST? 

 How Much Will It Cost to Bale My Hay?

 There a lot of variables to consider when calculating the cost of growing hay.  Here are a few things we would be glad to speak with you about if you are considering harvesting of your fields.

1. Amount of water. Rain fall or irrigation? 
2. Type of hay, planted or permanent pastures.
3. The condition of the hay field.
• clean or debris filled
• smooth or rough surface
4. Plant fertilizers and soil amendments.
5. How much of the work you are willing to do yourself..
• Cut the hay?
• Rake the hay?
• Load and stack the hay?
• Plant the crop?
• Prepare the field?

We estimate that our fee for the 2009 season for baling only will be $1.00 a bale. 

SAVE 50%

Even if we did most of the work for you, the cost of the hay would probably still be about 50% of what you would pay at the feed store. 

(Example: Your hay may cost $120 to $160 a ton. That is figured with forty 50# bales per ton..or $3.00 - $4.00 per bale for our labor)  Our own12 acre hay field has produced as much as 1200 bales in some years and as little as 600 when we had little rain (2008)).