|
Become a friend of the Klamath Bucket Brigade All donations are tax deductible |
|
This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
Hay sells itself this year
Growers find ready market, but profit margins won’t
be up
Craig Reed
For the Capital
Press
August 1, 2008
 |
| Todd Vogt, left, and Chris Fitzgerald work at loading a trailer with grass hay bales in a field north of Roseburg, Ore., on June 14. The haying season was delayed for a couple of weeks by persistent wet weather, but got into full swing during that weekend. |
Northwest hay
growers won't need to be pitchmen for their 2008 crop.
"Demand is high," Steve Kandra said on his cell phone from his hay field in the Klamath Basin on Sunday, July 27. "You won't have to work very hard at making sales."
"It won't be that hard to market this year," said Scott Pierson of Silver Lake, Ore. "A lot of people are real anxious to get their hay this year. Some of them had difficulty finding it in 2008, so they're already getting it lined up for 2009."
"We haven't put an ad in the paper for years," said Dale Bowman, a Douglas County, Ore., hay grower.
There are several reasons hay buyers are concerned there will be a shortage of the commodity through the coming winter and into next spring:
n Late cold earlier this year resulted in a late start to the haying season in many areas and one less cutting by some growers.
n Production in California is off because of water woes.
n Less land overall is in hay production because much of it has been changed to growing biomass crops for energy purposes.
With demand high and hay production expenses increasing, so is the price of hay. Kandra said good quality alfalfa in the Klamath Basin is selling for $195 to $225 a ton. LaRay Easterday of Buhl, Idaho, said alfalfa in his area is selling for $200 to $240 a ton, with most of it staying locally for use at dairies.
For the grass hay that he produces, Bowman said, the price is ranging from $125 a ton for rained-on hay to $170 a ton for quality grass/clover hay.
"I have not found a whiner yet this year," Pierson said of buyers' reactions to the increase in price. "Last year a lot of people were saying no way to the increase. But they've had a chance to realize everything is up. They've gone to the grocery store and found they can't buy food for the same price as they did last year. It's the same with hay."
A hay shortage later this year is probable because cold weather and rain forced a late start to the season. Easterday said, "I imagine we lost one cutting," and Kandra said, "It looks like I'm going to get just three cuttings (instead of four)."
Easterday said the first alfalfa cutting in Southern Idaho should have been off by June 1, but instead it was being cut in mid-June.
Kandra said that overall the quality of the first cutting of alfalfa in the Klamath Basin was good, but the tonnage was down 15 to 20 percent because cold slowed the growth. The Klamath rancher said he started cutting 10 days behind schedule so he decided to go to 40 days between cuts for three cuttings rather than cutting every 34 days for four cuttings as he has in the past.
"Some folks here will try for a fourth cutting this year, but they'll be taking it off toward the end of September or even the first of October, and there's a lot more high risk (of poor weather) at that time," he said.
Kandra said that with three cuts, the plant will be more mature and some nutrition will be lost, but the tonnage will go up.
"As the yield goes up, the quality starts to slip," he said. "But overall the quality here is good."
Pierson, president of the Oregon Hay and Forage Association, reported that cuttings are on schedule in his area because the season typically starts later there anyway. He said most growers will get three cuttings of alfalfa, two cuts on orchard grass and one cutting of meadow grass.
"We got good spring rains that brought the grass on, and it should be about double what it was last year," he said. "The alfalfa tonnage is about the same as last year."
One benefit to the late rains and cold, however, is the availability of water.
"We've got good water this year," Easterday said in mid-July. "Some of our reservoirs are 100 percent full right now."
While the price of hay has risen, the growers say they're not getting rich because the production costs have risen proportionately. Pierson said the biggest increase in production has been the cost of fertilizer, followed by the price of diesel fuel. Then such expenses as tires, twine, machine parts and freight to get those parts are also up.
"Expenses are up about proportionately to the price," Pierson said. "Profit margins will probably be about the same as last year."
"Before you celebrate too much about the price, you have to realize the base has also moved up," Kandra said. "When it's all over, we'll be working with about the same margin."
Freelance writer Craig Reed is based in Roseburg, Ore. E-mail: craigreed@douglasfast.net.
"Demand is high," Steve Kandra said on his cell phone from his hay field in the Klamath Basin on Sunday, July 27. "You won't have to work very hard at making sales."
"It won't be that hard to market this year," said Scott Pierson of Silver Lake, Ore. "A lot of people are real anxious to get their hay this year. Some of them had difficulty finding it in 2008, so they're already getting it lined up for 2009."
"We haven't put an ad in the paper for years," said Dale Bowman, a Douglas County, Ore., hay grower.
There are several reasons hay buyers are concerned there will be a shortage of the commodity through the coming winter and into next spring:
n Late cold earlier this year resulted in a late start to the haying season in many areas and one less cutting by some growers.
n Production in California is off because of water woes.
n Less land overall is in hay production because much of it has been changed to growing biomass crops for energy purposes.
With demand high and hay production expenses increasing, so is the price of hay. Kandra said good quality alfalfa in the Klamath Basin is selling for $195 to $225 a ton. LaRay Easterday of Buhl, Idaho, said alfalfa in his area is selling for $200 to $240 a ton, with most of it staying locally for use at dairies.
For the grass hay that he produces, Bowman said, the price is ranging from $125 a ton for rained-on hay to $170 a ton for quality grass/clover hay.
"I have not found a whiner yet this year," Pierson said of buyers' reactions to the increase in price. "Last year a lot of people were saying no way to the increase. But they've had a chance to realize everything is up. They've gone to the grocery store and found they can't buy food for the same price as they did last year. It's the same with hay."
A hay shortage later this year is probable because cold weather and rain forced a late start to the season. Easterday said, "I imagine we lost one cutting," and Kandra said, "It looks like I'm going to get just three cuttings (instead of four)."
Easterday said the first alfalfa cutting in Southern Idaho should have been off by June 1, but instead it was being cut in mid-June.
Kandra said that overall the quality of the first cutting of alfalfa in the Klamath Basin was good, but the tonnage was down 15 to 20 percent because cold slowed the growth. The Klamath rancher said he started cutting 10 days behind schedule so he decided to go to 40 days between cuts for three cuttings rather than cutting every 34 days for four cuttings as he has in the past.
"Some folks here will try for a fourth cutting this year, but they'll be taking it off toward the end of September or even the first of October, and there's a lot more high risk (of poor weather) at that time," he said.
Kandra said that with three cuts, the plant will be more mature and some nutrition will be lost, but the tonnage will go up.
"As the yield goes up, the quality starts to slip," he said. "But overall the quality here is good."
Pierson, president of the Oregon Hay and Forage Association, reported that cuttings are on schedule in his area because the season typically starts later there anyway. He said most growers will get three cuttings of alfalfa, two cuts on orchard grass and one cutting of meadow grass.
"We got good spring rains that brought the grass on, and it should be about double what it was last year," he said. "The alfalfa tonnage is about the same as last year."
One benefit to the late rains and cold, however, is the availability of water.
"We've got good water this year," Easterday said in mid-July. "Some of our reservoirs are 100 percent full right now."
While the price of hay has risen, the growers say they're not getting rich because the production costs have risen proportionately. Pierson said the biggest increase in production has been the cost of fertilizer, followed by the price of diesel fuel. Then such expenses as tires, twine, machine parts and freight to get those parts are also up.
"Expenses are up about proportionately to the price," Pierson said. "Profit margins will probably be about the same as last year."
"Before you celebrate too much about the price, you have to realize the base has also moved up," Kandra said. "When it's all over, we'll be working with about the same margin."
Freelance writer Craig Reed is based in Roseburg, Ore. E-mail: craigreed@douglasfast.net.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml