General Parameters

$/hr
$/gal
%/yr
miles
ton/ac
ton/ac

Capital Cost of Equipment

Herd Size, Nutrition & Losses

Hide/View system comparison:
Auto-size quantities ⚙ S4
1 harvester per system

Total Cost Comparison

Harvesting Hauling Storage
Annual Saving — New Baleage System vs Corn Silage Bunker
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Methodology: Ownership = depreciation + interest on avg investment + 2% capital. Tractor & chopper ownership is prorated to system hours (hrs used ÷ max hr/yr), assuming remaining hours serve other farm tasks. Operating = fuel + oil + maintenance (1% cap/100/hr) + labor. Harvester HP sets target capacity. Baler qty, trailer qty, dump box qty, compaction tractors all ROUNDUP so hauling and storage each ≥ harvesting capacity. Cost per ton DM = total / net DM fed.
Fixed Reference Values:
• Fuel consumption rate: 0.0438 gal/HP/hr (0.1658 L/HP/hr)
• Oil & lube cost: 10% of fuel cost
• Corn chopping capacity (wet): HP × 40% (e.g. 700 HP = 280 wet tons/hr)
• Grass chopping capacity (wet): HP × 25% (e.g. 500 HP = 125 wet tons/hr)
• Bunker compaction capacity: Tractor weight = HP × 85 lbs/HP; Capacity = tractor weight ÷ 800 lbs per ton DM/hr (e.g. 300 HP → 25,500 lbs → 31.9 tons DM/hr)
• Flatbed trailer: loading 40 sec/bale, unloading 30 sec/bale
• Self-loading bale carrier: loading 15 sec/bale, unloading 1 min (total)