Late Hay Cutting Likely to Result in Above Average Yields

Washington Markets: Familiar Sights of Hay-Loaded Trucks and Tractor Traffic Jams Return for Summer

Uncooperative weather put a damper on the traditional start of haying season in Washington this year, but that delay may wind up meaning more hay in the barn for winter stocks. 

So far this summer, Norm Steelhammer has been averaging right about 100 bales per acre on his family farm holdings that straddle the Chehalis River in Centralia and Galvin. He says that haul is fairly typical, but noted that some of his earliest cuttings have been set aside as cattle fodder due to its elevated moisture content.

“We started really early. We had two weeks of sunshine so I put away 3,000 bales. Some of them were a little damp, but oh well,” laughed Steelhammer, who plans on feeding that jumpstart round of hay from late May to his personal herd of cattle.  “I couldn’t stack it right away or I’d catch my barn on fire!”

Steelhammer says he has put away about 8,000 bales of horse quality hay from his 110 acres of hay fields since then, in addition to 145 bales of haylage and the damp cattle fodder that he cut in late spring. Steelhammer noted that nearly all of his market quality hay has already been spoken for by diligent return customers who are making sure to cover their feeding needs for the upcoming winter well in advance.

“Not too many people have made hay up until recently, so I’m way ahead of the game,” said Steelhammer.

The past week and a half has been a busy time for hay farmers across the state as the weather has finally cooperated long enough to allow for high-grade hay to be produced and stowed away in the barn. Pickup trucks towing trailers stacked tall with square bales and covered in bandana-clad teenagers clinging to the side rails have been a common site in Lewis County, and slow rolling tractors affixed with mowers, tedders and balers have been the number one cause of traffic jams on country roads.

According to Brad Haberman, second vice president of the Washington Farm Bureau, the bucolic scene has been quite similar in Eastern Washington. Haberman farms 1,500 acres in Ellensburg under the name Double HJ Farms and also owns the Number 9 Hay Processing depot and shipping center where he handles both domestic shipments of Timothy grass, alfalfa, oat hay and sudangrass as well as exports to Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. The family farmer says that much like Western Washington, the eastern two-thirds of the state wound up as a relatively late cut this year due to rain storms that lingered well into June.

“I think yields have been average or above this year on almost all of the hay,” said Haberman. “Cutting later helped the yield but as a consequence you get a little more brown leaf showing and some over maturity, particularly in the Timothy.”

Haberman estimated that the slow start to the season may have been especially helpful to patient farmers in Western Washington. 

“I would say they’ve probably been a little bit better just because of the spring,” hypothesized Haberman. “It really likes the cooler, wetter weather.”

Haberman noted that hay prices have been high and he expects them to hold steady through the summer and into the fall. However, Haberman believes there may be some volatility in the market come winter.

“I think the price might come down some but it’s really strong right now because of the Timothy shortage last year,” noted Haberman. 

A mid-winter shortage of Timothy hay in December 2016 was exacerbated by spot-buying consumers which sparked a spike in price that has yet to recede. Currently Eastern Washington Timothy hay is selling for about $280 per ton while prime alfalfa is going for about $200 a ton and oat hay is hovering around $110 per ton. However, with an above average hay crop headed to barns across the state and the natural fluctuation of market demands at play, Haberman is not convinced that Timothy hay will continue to fetch such a high price later on in the year.

“When you see the market jump up that high that fast it always concerns me,” said Haberman. “I’m a little worried that the price may come down a little bit later in the year because there is a lot of nice green hay going up in barns right now.”

Haberman says that overseas export demand will help keep hay prices afloat but noted that some foreign buyers are beginning to flinch at the price point.

“There is always export demand. Price might determine some of that as some of the customers are a little concerned that the price is too high right now,” said Haberman.

As for Steelhammer and most other hay producers in Western Washington, he has been selling his bales for about $4 a pop off the field. At roughly 60 pounds per bale that comes out to about $133 per ton. Steelhammer says he is confident he could get at least another dollar per bale out of his hay if he stored it away in the barn for winter but he’s content to see it on the move already.

“I could probably get $5 per bale if I stacked them away and sold them later,” said Steelhammer as he climbed up on his tractor for another lap around the field. “But then I’d have to handle them another four times, so I’m happy to sell them right from here.”