From the time when he could lift and throw hay bales, Shane Mueller was working for his dad in the hay field. While in high school, the Garretson, S.D., resident bought a few sheep and began restoring some of his dad’s farm equipment. Once he had the sheep, he knew that he would have to help put feed up for them and that meant helping put up hay.
After helping his dad with haying and learning the skill set, Mueller decided to start his own custom haying business. He discovered that there was a pretty strong demand for small square bales in his area, as most custom round bale operations didn’t want to do the work of square baling.
As Mueller’s business began to expand, he began advertising his services through Craigslist and soon the demand began to outpace his supply. He is now searching for more ground that he can bale so he can expand his business and continue to find other markets for the hay. As he continues to expand his business, he also has begun purchasing more equipment for his use.
The South Dakota State University student knows that keeping his equipment in good working condition is a large part of avoiding downtime. In addition he also strives for customer satisfaction, inviting customers on custom jobs to inspect the bales as they come out of the baler to ensure they are up to the customer’s standards.
Mueller is the son of Julie and Ed Mueller. He is a member of the Garretson FFA Chapter, led by advisor Ed Mueller.
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