Hay (tall fescue, custom baled)
What it earns, what it costs and what it asks of your week.
Every figure on this page is the template's own, an extension estimate and not a measurement of any farm. Your own hours and harvests calibrate it once you log them.
Where the numbers come from
- TN · University of Tennessee Extension, Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2025 Tennessee Hay Budgets (D252-C), 2025 primary
- TN · USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2025 State Agriculture Overview: Tennessee, 2025
- TN · USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Market News, Tennessee Direct Hay Report (AMS_3793), 2026
Figured at 1 acre, the size of operation the primary source describes. Season 2, the first at full production; earlier seasons earn less.
Hours by week
1 acre of Hay (tall fescue, custom baled) in 2026, week by week. The dashed line is 40 hours, one person's week. The busiest week holds 3 h (Jun 22 to Jun 28).
Weeks that cannot move
Biology or a booking sets these; nothing can reschedule them.
- First cutting: schedule custom crew, move and stack bales: May 11 to May 24
- Second cutting: schedule custom crew, move and stack bales: Jun 22 to Jun 28
Where it lands on a mixed farm
Each pair of templates is run together on a made-up farm of one person at 40 hours, the way Farm Draft runs a plan. A week is listed when the scheduler finds work that cannot move, at least 8 hours from each, adding up to more than 40. The weeks are computed, not written: change a template and they change.
No other built-in template puts 8 hours of fixed work in a week this one does, enough to pass 40 hours with it, at the sizes their sources describe.
Not checked, because their sources state no size of operation: Cut flowers (bunches, direct), Hair sheep (pasture lambs), Pastured feeder pigs (whole and half hogs), Stocker cattle (summer grazing).
Tasks
| Task | Hours fixed | Hours per acre | When | Rigidity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fertilize and lime (custom), check stand | 1 h | 0.2 h a acre | once, Mar 1 to Mar 31 | Flexible, 14 days |
| First cutting: schedule custom crew, move and stack bales | 2 h | 0.75 h a acre | once, May 15 to Jun 10 | Fixed |
| Second cutting: schedule custom crew, move and stack bales | 2 h | 0.75 h a acre | once, Jun 25 to Jul 31 | Fixed |
| Load out and sell bales | 1 h | 0.25 h a acre | once, Aug 1 to Feb 28 | Floating |
Costs
| Line | Amount | Schedule F |
|---|---|---|
| Establishment, prorated over 6 years | $42.64 a acre | Seeds and plants |
| N, P, K and lime | $116.91 a acre | Fertilizer and lime |
| Custom fertilizer application (2x) | $25.42 a acre | Custom hire |
| Herbicide and application | $24.11 a acre | Chemicals |
| Custom mow, ted, rake, bale, haul (first cutting) | $110.39 a acre | Custom hire |
| Custom mow, ted, rake, bale, haul (second cutting) | $110.39 a acre | Custom hire |
| Barn storage ($4.43 per bale) | $37.46 a acre | Rent: machinery, equipment |
Revenue
| Line | Price | Yield | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round bales | $150.00 a ton | 2.9 tons a acre | 1 ton a ton |
Farm Draft records the tax category of each line and leaves the choice of treatment to your CPA.
Run it on your own farm
Add Hay (tall fescue, custom baled) next to the rest of what you grow and raise. Farm Draft puts every enterprise in one weekly calendar against the hours you actually have and names the week they collide.
The other templates
- Beef cow-calf
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Cut flowers (bunches, direct)
- Hair sheep (pasture lambs)
- Honeybees
- Laying hens
- Market garden (mixed vegetables)
- Meat goats (pasture and browse)
- Orchard (apple and pear, semi-dwarf)
- Pastured broilers
- Pastured feeder pigs (whole and half hogs)
- Pick-your-own and event days
- Raspberries
- Stocker cattle (summer grazing)