Economics of Forage Harvest and Storage Systems

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Economics of Forage Harvest and Storage Systems

• Forage Harvesters
• Silos

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Is it Time to Replace my Forage Harvester?

• Is labor availability an issue?
• Is timeliness a problem with your current
  equipment?
• Are your repair costs high?
• How many acres of forages do you harvest?

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Solutions to Labor Scarcity and Poor Harvest
Timeliness

• Purchase higher capacity forage harvester
• Change crop rotation
• Custom hire

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Are your repair costs high?

• Current forage harvesters are designed to be more
  reliable and have fewer repairs over their
  lifetimes than older models
• Newer models of pull-type forage harvesters have
  an expected life of 2,500 hours compared to 2,000
  for older models
• Newer models of SP forage harvesters have an
  expected life of 4,000 hours compared to 2,500
  for older models

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Forage Harvester Comparisons

• 2-row towed (25,900)
• 2-row self-propelled (159,900)
• 3-row self-propelled (165,600)
• 6-row self-propelled (236,600)

Prices from Univ. of MN, Minnesota Farm
Machinery Economic Cost Estimates for 2001
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Managing Machinery Costs

• Variable costs are those which occur from
  operating the machinery
• repairs
• labor
• fuel
• lubrication

• Fixed costs are those which result from owning
  the machinery
• depreciation
• interest
• insurance
• housing

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Field Capacity (acres/hour)
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Silage Storage Alternatives

• Tower silos
• Bunker silos
• Silage bags

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Tower Silo

• Silage can be 50 to 65 moisture
• Packing of silage due to weight from top
• Various sizes available (50-4000 tons)
• Minimal exposure to weather

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Bunker Silo

• Sizing is very flexible
• Silage can be of higher moisture than tower
• Requires more labor to pack down
• Requires plastic and tires to cover
• Increased exposure to weather

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Silage Bags

• Normal size 150-200 ft. long by 9 ft. diameter
• Minimal amount of labor required
• May wear out tractor more quickly
• Spoilage due to weather or rodents
• Easy to regulate silage removal
• Takes up space

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Summary of Silo Cost Factors

• Structure
• Equipment (tractor and special equipment)
• Labor (How much time and when does action occur)
• Fuel and lubricants
• Plastic
• Dry Matter Loss (direct loss of silage value)

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Annual cost of storage of 384 tons DM
Source Choosing Forage Storage Facilities,
B.J. Holmes, Univ. of Wisconsin
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Annual cost of storage of 3,072 tons DM
Source Choosing Forage Storage Facilities,
B.J. Holmes, Univ. of Wisconsin
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Silage Cost Management Resources

• www.uwex.edu/ces/crops/uwforage/storage
• Includes a spreadsheet and documentation to
  analyze costs of different storage choices
• www.silo.org/costcomparison.xls
• Spreadsheet tool that allows for comparison of
  costs of tower, bunker, and bags