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Production of hay for 2007 in Douglas County was approximately 57,400 tons of grass hay and 12,500 tons of alfalfa hay for a combined value of more than $10.9 million.
The average sale price of this hay was $150 per ton for grass hay and $185 per ton for alfalfa hay (in bulk). If you purchased hay by the bale or small lots, you paid even more. We also have approximately 400,000 acres of hillside and bottom ground pasture for use during the grazing season.
Our production may seem large, but because of limitations such as accessibility, growing season, haying conditions, and quality constraints, it was not sufficient to feed all the cattle, sheep, horses and other foraging livestock we have. The balance of feed had to be trucked in from outside the county, thereby increasing the overall cost of forage.
During the past two to three years, drought and other weather-related problems across the United States have decreased forage yield in hayfields and pastures, causing low supplies and high prices for harvested forage. Additionally, corn production and prices are at a historic high, and this has lured some U.S. producers to take land out of forage production and put it into corn production for biofuels.
Forecasters are predicting another year of low forage production and supplies are certain to be tight. And yes, prices would be high again if this materializes. It is important to accurately estimate the forage needs of your livestock and make sure you have enough to feed them through the summer and upcoming winter. If you come up short, think about selling off some of your stock or consider alternate feeding schemes to conserve forage.
Since 1917, Douglas County OSU Extension Service has been providing information to farmers and ranchers on field management (safety, soil testing and fertilizing accordingly, choosing proper forage for the site characteristics, irrigation management, grazing and haying management, weed control); storing hay and forage (strategic barns and tarps, stockpiling forage); marketing forage (pasture rental, hay market); using forage (assessing nutrient content, knowing animal nutrient requirements, feeding balanced rations, matching animal numbers to available feed); animal management (safety first, healthy animals, mud and manure management) and more.
Today, we can help you be efficient in growing, storing, marketing and using your hay and other resources, coping with forage shortfalls and high feed costs, feeding your animals properly and remaining competitive as ranchers. Make sure you are doing the best you can. It is not only economically efficient, but also environmentally prudent to use resources properly.
The highlighted publication for this month is “Hay Making on the West Side.” Ask for your copy.
Weeds lower pasture productivity, so make sure you are controlling them properly. Yellow Star Thistle will be the weed of discussion for the Douglas County Weed Tour 2008, set for 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. June 24. Contact the Extension Office to arrange for pickup points and ride sharing to the tour site (a ranch south of Roseburg).
<i>Shelby Filley is the Regional Livestock and Forages Specialist for OSU Extension Service of Douglas County. Shelby can be reached by e-mail shelby.filley@oregonstate.edu or phone at 541-672-4461.</i>
The average sale price of this hay was $150 per ton for grass hay and $185 per ton for alfalfa hay (in bulk). If you purchased hay by the bale or small lots, you paid even more. We also have approximately 400,000 acres of hillside and bottom ground pasture for use during the grazing season.
Our production may seem large, but because of limitations such as accessibility, growing season, haying conditions, and quality constraints, it was not sufficient to feed all the cattle, sheep, horses and other foraging livestock we have. The balance of feed had to be trucked in from outside the county, thereby increasing the overall cost of forage.
During the past two to three years, drought and other weather-related problems across the United States have decreased forage yield in hayfields and pastures, causing low supplies and high prices for harvested forage. Additionally, corn production and prices are at a historic high, and this has lured some U.S. producers to take land out of forage production and put it into corn production for biofuels.
Forecasters are predicting another year of low forage production and supplies are certain to be tight. And yes, prices would be high again if this materializes. It is important to accurately estimate the forage needs of your livestock and make sure you have enough to feed them through the summer and upcoming winter. If you come up short, think about selling off some of your stock or consider alternate feeding schemes to conserve forage.
Since 1917, Douglas County OSU Extension Service has been providing information to farmers and ranchers on field management (safety, soil testing and fertilizing accordingly, choosing proper forage for the site characteristics, irrigation management, grazing and haying management, weed control); storing hay and forage (strategic barns and tarps, stockpiling forage); marketing forage (pasture rental, hay market); using forage (assessing nutrient content, knowing animal nutrient requirements, feeding balanced rations, matching animal numbers to available feed); animal management (safety first, healthy animals, mud and manure management) and more.
Today, we can help you be efficient in growing, storing, marketing and using your hay and other resources, coping with forage shortfalls and high feed costs, feeding your animals properly and remaining competitive as ranchers. Make sure you are doing the best you can. It is not only economically efficient, but also environmentally prudent to use resources properly.
The highlighted publication for this month is “Hay Making on the West Side.” Ask for your copy.
Weeds lower pasture productivity, so make sure you are controlling them properly. Yellow Star Thistle will be the weed of discussion for the Douglas County Weed Tour 2008, set for 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. June 24. Contact the Extension Office to arrange for pickup points and ride sharing to the tour site (a ranch south of Roseburg).
<i>Shelby Filley is the Regional Livestock and Forages Specialist for OSU Extension Service of Douglas County. Shelby can be reached by e-mail shelby.filley@oregonstate.edu or phone at 541-672-4461.</i>
