What Can I Afford to Pay to Rent Hay Ground?

Apr 28, 2022

By Andrew Griffith

A few of weeks ago, a question concerning hay ground rent was asked. In essence, the question was what is the appropriate way to value such ground from either the owner’s or renter’s perspective?

A good place to start is with the USDA Cash Rents survey information. Depending on the specific piece of land, an owner can lease the ground for row crops, hay, or pasture or choose to do nothing with it. Ground that can be row cropped generally has a higher value than hay and pasture, but if an owner does not want the land to be cropped then they should expect a lower lease rate.

From the standpoint of a person renting the land, it is important to have a grasp on cost of production and compare that to what it would cost to purchase hay of similar quality. After accounting for input costs including fertilizer, herbicides, and actual hay harvest expenses, what is the difference in purchasing hay and producing it on the rented ground? That difference provides the maximum that could be paid.

Source : osu.edu

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.