Hey, why not contract for hay?

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

I was standing in line at the feed store, visiting with other customers last week. The hot topic of the conversation was hay.

“Is there any for sale? Isn’t the price outrageous? What can you feed to make it last longer?” the customers asked each other.

Last summer’s extremeweather caused local hay production to fall, a problem compounded by Texans buying up local hay because of the drought they faced.

While larger scale farmers and horse owners can buy and store enough hay for the winter during the summer months, those with inadequate storage space and money, like me,have to buy hay as needed throughout the winter. During a good year, it’s easy to buy a few weeks’ or a month’s worth of hay at a time. That becomes a problem when there is no hay to be had.

I have been doing a lot of research on my own about the issue, but for this column I called Robert Seay at the Benton County Extension Office.

Seay explained that every animal has a certain requirement for roughage in order for its digestive system to work. Horses require between 1.5 to 2.5 percent of their body weight in forage every day. Cattle need 3 percent of their body weight in forage, according to Seay.

During cold weather, whether it be ice and snow or sub-freezing temperatures accompanied by a stiff wind, livestock animals double those requirements.

“The hay shortage has complicated things for all species. If not for this mild winter, we would all be in dire straits,” said Seay.

Alfalfa cubes and similar products can be used to supplement hay but are pricey. Horses can get by on pretty poor forage if they have supplemental sources of calories, as long as it’s not molded or mildewed, according to Seay.

Many horse owners thinktheir animals require small square bales of Bermuda hay, however Bermuda hay production didn’t get started in this area until around 1990. Before then horses relied on fescue and grass hay, he said.

Many farmers advertise “horse-quality hay.”

“You can chase that definition down all day and not find a good one,” Seay said.

Seay said he looks for color, fragrance and weediness when judging hay. Bright green color indicates nutrient content, and a fresh smell indicates the hay was put up properly, reducing the chance for molds toxic to horses.

Light at the end of the tunnel

The good news for those in need of hay is that, because of the mild weather, farmers have not used as much as they estimated would be needed last fall. That means that some are currently able to sell hay they were storing for their own use earlier in the winter.

Long-term solutions

One of the problems that hay producers face is that it is not a guaranteed crop like corn or soybeans, Seay said. There is no way to tell if there will be a market for hay in the fall or how much it will be going for. Meanwhile, the costs of haying equipment and fertilizer are tremendous.

If hay producers don’t think they have the potential to sell in the fall, theywon’t fertilize their fields for the maximum yield.

“A lot of people want to buy hay like picking up a gallon of milk,” said Seay.

He suggested a different approach to benefit both producers and customers. People interested in purchasing small (and large) quantities of hay need to talk to producers and work out an agreement on how much hay they will need throughout the year and for what price.

In order for the idea to work, customers and farmers must be committed to a permanent agreement. Farmers will know how much they need to produce and will have the advantage of having a guaranteed market and price, while customers will also be guaranteed the hay they need at a reasonable price.

The agreement would be similar to community supported agriculture in vegetable farming, where customers pledge to pay a certain amount every week or month for a box of fresh vegetables.

While this type of model isn’t widely being used with hay, if customers approach hay producers, Seay says they will likely sit up and take notice.

“Hay is the best insurance you can buy if you have animals,” said Seay.

Janelle Jessen is a reporter for the Westside Eagle Observer and a longtime resident of the Decatur area. She may be contacted by email at [email protected].

Opinion, Pages 6 on 02/08/2012