The painting of the new shop is finished. It came out looking really nice. We have a few things left to finish on the inside, and then, we’ll finally be done.
Today, we got the first of the hay for the year loaded into the barn. We received three loads of about 70 bales each. Then, it promptly started to rain. Now we have to wait for the rain to stop to get the rest of the hay picked up. All we need is four hours of sun to dry it out, plus six more hours to gather the hay. Please, no more thunderstorms or rogue clouds until tomorrow afternoon!
Hay prices are really rising this year. The cost of diesel is higher than gasoline, and it’s making the cost to cut and bale hay very high. We lost another custom farmer in our area who retired, so the remaining two people are so overbooked that it’s hard to schedule things. They were a few days late cutting, plus an extra day late baling, and now it’s getting rained on. The equipment is too expensive for a small farm like ours, so we’re stuck! If anyone wants a good business, there is a huge need for custom farmers in our area. There are some high capital costs to get in, unless you buy used and do your own repairs. However, there is a large and growing clientele.