Progress Report Series No. 54 
APR 19 il 55
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIME TI 
N
of The Alabama Polytechnic Institu Ala.
* * * * * * E. V. SMITH, Director 
. ? * * *
COST COMPARISONS of JOHNSONGRASS SILAGE and HAY
Black Belt Substation, 1953-54
W. B. Kelley and L. A. Smithl/
Increased interest in preserving grass silage has been shown by Black Belt
dairymen in recent years. The Black Belt Substation preserved 
Johnsongrass sil-
age and Johnsongrass hay as a part of the experimental work carried out 
during
1953 and 1954o
Data presented in this report are based primarily on actual experience 
and
records kept during the 2 years, However, production 
costs of Johnsongrass were
calculated from previous research work.
Costs, as presented, will vary among farms and years, but they are given 
to
help farmers make decisions on how to preserve this forage crop.
Production Costs
The production costs of Johnsongrass included an annual 
land charge of 6 per
cent on land valued at $100 per acre. Caley peas were grown on this land during
winter, and Johnsongrass during summer.
Johnsongrass was seeded every 5 years, and Caley peas every 3 years. Five
hundred pounds of 0-16-8 fertilizer per acre was applied annually. One-third of
all costs was charged to each of two cuttings of Johnsongrass, 
and one-third to
Caley peas.
The total production cost of Johnsongrass, which included 
land preparation,
seed, fertilizer, and seeding, is given in Table 
1. The costs per ton are based
on a yield of 1.33 tons of hay per acre for each 
cutting and a yield of 4.41 tons
of silage per acreo
Harvesting Silae and Hay
In the summer of 1953, a 12-acre field of Johnsongrass about three-fourths
of a mile from the silo and barn was divided into two equal areas. One area
was harvested as silage, and the other as hay. 
Harvesting of both silage and
hay was begun the same day. The silage an4c hay were 
used in a feeding experiment
with dairy cows in the winter of 1953-54/
i/ Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent, Black Belt Substation, The
authors acknowledge the assistance of J, L. Butt, Associate Agricultural Engi-
neer, and J. H. Yeager, Associate Agricultural 
Economist, Agricultural Experiment
Station of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn.
2/ See mimeographed report, "Johnsongrass Silage 
and Hay Feeding Experiment with
Dairy Cows, Black Belt Substation" by W. B
0 
Kelley, L. A. Smith, and George E.
Hawkins, Jr. Issued February 1955.
Most -of the Johnsongrass was in the boot stage at cutting time, with an
occasional seed head showing. For silage, it was cut with a forage harvester
(driven by tractor power take-off) and blown directly into a trailing wagon.
S Oneman with. a 32-horsepower tractor operated the forage harvester. Another
man with tractor shuttled two wagons between the field and the silo. One wagon
was equipped with a canvass unloader, and the other with a false end-gate unloader.
Both unloaders worked satisfactorily. A third man stayed at the silo and helped
unload t1e wagons. Between loads, the man at the silo leveled and packed the
silage A third tractor located at the sil powered the silage blower.
Silage with a moisture content of 66.8 per cent was blown into a 44-foot
upright steel silo. No preservative was added. A summary of harvesting costs
is given in Table 2. Harvesting machinery costs were calculated at two different
levels of annual use to point out how costs per hour decrease with more use. The
machinery costs included depreciation, insurce, taxes, housing, interest on
investment, repairs, fuel, and lubricationA/
Johnsongrass hay was cut and the stems cracked with a hay crusher to permit
rapid drying. Costs given in Table 3 are based on use of a hay crusher with
mower attachment; therefore, only one tractor was required to mw and crush the
hay.
One man with a 32-horsepower tractor operated the hay mower-crusher. One
man with a side-delivery rake on a tractor windrowed the hay. The windrow was
turned once before baling, and one man using a pickup baler with auxiliary engine
baled the hay. The hay was loaded on a l?-ton truck with a bale loader. A crew
of three men was used in hauling; one man drove the truck and the other two took
bales from the loader and placed them on the truck. The three men unloaded the
hay by hand and stacked it in a hay barn.
The original costs of new harvesting machinery used in making silage and
hay are given in Table 4.
Additional data on harvesting of silage and hay follow:
Silage
1. Average time to load wagon (1.85 tons) was 37 minutes.
2. Average total travel time per load was 11 minutes.
3. Average time to unload wagon was 13 minutes.
4. Average time for lubrication, adjustments, sharpening
knives, etc. was 5.85 minutes per load.
5. Average number 
of tons hauled 
and placed in 
silo per
hour was 2.59.
6. Average number of man hours required per ton was 1.16.
3/ Based on subsequent experience, more thorough packing is needed than was done
by one man in this instance.
For an explanation of how machinery costs were calculated, see Appendix.
See mimeographed report, Report of Results from Testing Hay Crushing Machines"
by J. L. Butt, W. B. Kelley, C. M. Martin, and L. A. Smith. Issued May 1953.
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Hay
1. Mowing and crushing was done at the rate of 1.28 acres
or 1.70 tons per hour.
2. Raking and turning windrow once was done at the rate of
1.70 acres or 2.26 tons per hour.
3. Baling was done at the rate of 101.5 bales (average of
74 pounds each) or 3.76 tons per hour.
4. Loading on truck, hauling, and stacking in barn was done
at the rate of 1.67 tons per hour.
5. Average number of man hours per ton of hay was 3.10.
Storage of Silage and Hay
The storage costs of Johnsongrass silage and hay are given in Table 1.
Silage was stored in an upright silo with a capacity of approximately 120 tons
of Johnsongrass silage. New cost of the silo was $2,164. Depreciation, taxes,
and interest on investment were calculated at 3 per cent, 0.52 per cent, and 3
per cent, respectively, of the new cost.
The baled hay was stored in a 40-ton capacity barn of pole and metal con-
struction. New cost of the barn was $769. Annual use costs were calculated on
basis of depreciation at 3 per cent, taxes at 0.63 per cent, interest on invest-
ment at 3 per cent, and insurance at 0.84 per cent of the new cost.
Feeding of Silage and. Hay
The costs of feeding silage, given in Table 1, were for silage thrown down
by hand from the silo into a silage cart and forked from the cart into troughs
near the silo. Cost of labor was figured at 50 cents per hour. The hay was
placed directly from the storage barn into feed racks.
Results
The total cost of producing, harvestingg storing, and feeding Johnsongrass
hay was less than that of Johnsongrass silage. Johnsongrass hay cost $3.72 per
ton less than Johnsongrass silage on a dry matter basis when the basis for cal-
culating costs of harvesting equipment was 
150 hours of use per year.
The cost of harvesting Johnsongrass hay was 32 per cent more per ton of dry
matter when the equipment was used 60 hours per year than when it was used 150
hours per year... The cost of Johnsongrass silage was 35 per cent more when the
equipment was used 60 hours per year than when it was used 150 hours. These
data show conclusively that with normal farm use harvesting costs per ton of
both Johnsongrass silage and hay decrease as the total annual hours of machinery
use increase.
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Table 1. Summary of Production, Harvesting, Storage and Feeding Costs of
Johnsongrass Silage and Hay, Black Belt Substation, 1953-54
Cost per ton at two levels of equipment useL/
Cost item 60 hours per year 150 hours per year
Silage Hay Silage Hay
Production $ 1.41 $ 4.68 $ 1.41 $ 4.68
Harvesting 3.93 8.83 2.90 6.68
Storage 1.18 1.44 1.18 1.44
Feeding .54 .25 .54 .25
Total cost $ 7.06 $15-.20 $ 6.03 $13.05
Total cost
per ton of dry matter2/ $21.27 $16.82 $18.16 $14.44
/ See Appendix for method of calculating costs and explanation of hours' use of
equipment.
2/ Moisture content of the silage was 66.8 percent and of the hay, 9.66 per cent.
Table 2. Cost of Harvesting Johnsongrass Silage, Black Belt Substation, 1953
Cost per ton at two levels
Machinery and equipment used 
of equipment us
60 hours per year 150 hours per year
1 32-HP tractor (pulling forage harvester) $ .47 $ .46
1 32-HP tractor (pulling wagons) .40 .39
1 26.5-HP tractor (pulling silage blower) .31 .31
1 forage harvester, 48-inch cut
(driven by tractor power take-off) 1.50 .68
1 silage blower .55 .36
2 silage wagons .12 .12
Total machinery cost per ton $ 3.35 $2.32
Labor cost per ton (50 cents per hour) .58 .58
Total harvesting costs per ton $ 3.93 $2.90
Total harvesting costs
per ton of dry matter
2
/ $11.84 $8.73
i_/ See Appendix for method of calculating costs and explanation of hours' use of
equipment.
2/ Moisture content of silage was 66.8 per cent.
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Table 3. Cost of Harvesting Johnsongrass Hay, Black Belt Substation, 1953
Cost per ton at two 1~vels
Machinery and equipment used of equipment usei
60 hours per year 150 hours per year
1 32-HP tractor (pulling hay crusher) $ .76 $ .76
1 32-HP tractor (pulling hay baler) .30 .30
1 26.5-HP tractor (pulling side-delivery rake) .36 .36
1 hay crusher (mower attached) 2.03 .90
1 side-delivery rake .29 .22
1 pickup baler (with auxiliary engine) 1.49 .71
Wire for bales .95 .95
1 1i-ton truck .72 .72
1 bale loader .38 .21
Total machinery cost per ton $7.28 $5.13
Labor cost per ton (50 cents per hour) 1.55 1.55
Total harvesting cost per ton $8.83 $6.68
Total harvesting cost
per ton of dry matte/ $9.77 $7.39
1/ See Appendix for method of calculating costs and explanation of hours' use of
equipment.
2/ Moisture content of the hay was 9.66 per cent.
Table 4. Cost of New Silage and Hay :Harvesting Machinery and Equipment Other Than
Tractors and Truck, Black Belt Substation, 1953
Machinery and equipment Cost new
For silage:
Forage harvester, 48-inch cut, power take-off driven $1,585
Silage blower 750
2 silage wagons 600
Total $2,935
For hay:
Hay crusher, mower attached $1,400
Side-delivery rake 400
Pickup baler with auxiliary engine 2,900
Bale loader 400
Total $5,100
Appendix
Procedure for Calculating Machinery Costs
Machinery costs as presented in Tables 1, 2, and 3, with one exception, are
based on information included in the publication "Crop Machines Use Data", AE
Data 2, published June, 1949, by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers,
Saint Joseph, Michigan, revised January, 1953. Repair costs on all tractors were
figured at 70 per cent of new costs, rather than at 35 per cent.
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The general procedure for calculation of machinery costs-was as follows:
A total of 525 hours of general farm use per year was assumed for tractors.
The 60 and 150 hours of use for harvesting hay and silage were in addition to
general use. Depreciation costs per hour per $100 of new costs were derived on
basis of these hours of annual use, 7,500 hours of life, and 15 years until the
equipment is obsolete. This figure multiplied by the number of hundred dollars
of new cost gave the depreciation cost per hour. Repairs, interest, housing,
taxes, and insurance were calculated by a similar method. In addition, operat-
ing costs per hour, which included fuel, oil, and lubrication, as well as time
for lubrication, adjustments, sharpening knives, etc., were determined on basis
of actual use. Costs per ton were calculated by dividing the total costs of
harvesting hay or silage (based on hours of use of machinery and equipment and
cost per hour) by the total tons harvested.
Costs for the use of all machinery and equipment were based on levels of 60
and 150 hours. However, in the silage operation the blower would actually be
used only 18 hours for blowing into the silo the quantity harvested by the forage
harvester in 60 hours. If costs for operating the silage blower had been calcu-
lated for 18 instead of 60 hours and for 45 instead of 150 hours, total costs per
ton would have been slightly different from those reported.
In harvesting hay, 60 or 150 hours of use for the baler would necessitate
more than this amount of use for the hay crusher, rake, and bale loader. There-
fore, if costs were calculated on this basis, they would be somewhat less per
ton than those presented in Table 3. An actual use basis for each machine rather
than the two levels of use assumed for all machines in calculating harvesting
costs would not alter the conclusions on comparative costs of Johnsongrass silage
and hay.
The importance of using machinery and equipment more hours per year in order
to reduce costs per hour is further shown in Appendix Table 1.
Appendix Table 1. Relationship of -Hours of Use to Fixed Costs per Hour for
Selected Equipment Used in Johnsongrass Silage and Hay Study,
Black Belt Substation, 1953
Fixed costs per hour of usel
/
Hours of use per year Pickup baler Forage harvester3/
($2,900 new cost).2// ($1,585 new cost)
30 $10.53 $7.61
.60 * 5.31 3.88
90 3.69 2.70
150 2.36 1.75
1/ Fixed costs include depreciation, interest, housing, taxes, insurance, and
repairs but do not include the cost of fuel and lubrication for the baler and
lubrication for the harvester.
2_/ This does not include cost of wire used by the baler, which would add $3.57
to each of these amounts.
3/ Depreciation rate on the forage harvester was assumed to be the same as that
for a combine.
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