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ENLARGE
Bob Sconce rakes hay in a grass field between Roseburg and Glide. Sconce says the hay will be used to feed his cows later this year.
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ENLARGE
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Mark Nichols drives a tractor that pulls a mower through a grass field west of Sutherlin Tuesday. The haying season in Douglas County resumed last week after delays due to showers.
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Hay prices were up a year ago, and livestock owners weren't happy about the rapid increase in cost.
A year has passed and hay prices have slipped overall in the state, easing worries as people look ahead to feeding their animals after the spring and summer grass dries up.
“The price will be off a little bit,” said Dale Bowman, a rancher and hay grower in the Winston area. “Good grass and clover hay last year was $150 a ton out of the field and this year it's $136 a ton out of the field.”
“No question prices have softened,” said Tim Bare, the manager of K-Bar Ranches in the Myrtle Creek area. “They started softening about March. Prices are down, but demand is down.”
The 2009 season is well under way. A lot of grass field acres in Douglas County were mowed, raked, baled and hauled during a hot stretch of weather in late May, but then a week or so of thunderstorms in early June put the haying process on hold. Rain fell on some hay that was in the midst of being processed, causing the crop to lose some or all of its nutritional and financial value.
The May hay is considered to be of the best quality, while some of the hay that wasn't mowed until several weeks later was possibly overripe, but still very usable.
Production costs to grow and handle this year's hay crop aren't as high as a year ago when fuel, fertilizer and twine, all petroleum products, increased steeply along with the price of oil. Most of those costs have come down at least a little in the past year, if not more. But several other factors also figure into the equation of lower hay costs.
Because hay prices, whether alfalfa, orchard grass or grass, were high last summer and fall, and owners didn‘t want to pay the price or couldn't afford to, a lot of beef cattle, dairy cows and horses were sold off, the cattle going to the meat market.
There have been several reports from around the state of horses being turned loose to forage for themselves because the owners didn't want to buy hay.
The high price also resulted in less hay being exported to foreign markets.
So demand went down and there's a carryover of 2008 hay in central and eastern Oregon waiting to be sold. The price has been dropped on that surplus hay and has a rippling effect on prices as the 2009 crop is processed.
The fact that beef and dairy cattle numbers in California have also decreased has left a surplus of hay in that state, and the price has been dropped in an effort to find a market for it.
Don Santos, a rancher and hay grower in the Glide area, said people in Douglas County who buy some grass hay probably won't see much of a change with the price still being $3 to $4 for 50- to 60-pound bales. He added that people wanting good orchard grass hay for their horses can expect to pay about $160 a ton; eastern Oregon alfalfa will be about $150, down $90 a ton from a year ago in some instances.
Santos said he's heard hay production was normal in most north Douglas County areas, but lighter in south county.
Roger Holcomb, who ranches and produces hay in the Kellogg area west of Sutherlin, said the hay crop on his place is similar to 2008. He's optimistic the 600 tons he has for sale will sell.
“Most of the operators wait into the fall - September, October - to start feeding hay again,” Holcomb said. “Sales and deliveries will begin again in July and August.”
“This is the best year I've seen for quality, but the quantity is a little bit light,” said Bare of the overall crop in Douglas County. “Where we go from here is anybody's guess. People ask me all the time what the price will be in August. That's like asking what the price of fuel will be in August. I have no idea.”
A year has passed and hay prices have slipped overall in the state, easing worries as people look ahead to feeding their animals after the spring and summer grass dries up.
“The price will be off a little bit,” said Dale Bowman, a rancher and hay grower in the Winston area. “Good grass and clover hay last year was $150 a ton out of the field and this year it's $136 a ton out of the field.”
“No question prices have softened,” said Tim Bare, the manager of K-Bar Ranches in the Myrtle Creek area. “They started softening about March. Prices are down, but demand is down.”
The 2009 season is well under way. A lot of grass field acres in Douglas County were mowed, raked, baled and hauled during a hot stretch of weather in late May, but then a week or so of thunderstorms in early June put the haying process on hold. Rain fell on some hay that was in the midst of being processed, causing the crop to lose some or all of its nutritional and financial value.
The May hay is considered to be of the best quality, while some of the hay that wasn't mowed until several weeks later was possibly overripe, but still very usable.
Production costs to grow and handle this year's hay crop aren't as high as a year ago when fuel, fertilizer and twine, all petroleum products, increased steeply along with the price of oil. Most of those costs have come down at least a little in the past year, if not more. But several other factors also figure into the equation of lower hay costs.
Because hay prices, whether alfalfa, orchard grass or grass, were high last summer and fall, and owners didn‘t want to pay the price or couldn't afford to, a lot of beef cattle, dairy cows and horses were sold off, the cattle going to the meat market.
There have been several reports from around the state of horses being turned loose to forage for themselves because the owners didn't want to buy hay.
The high price also resulted in less hay being exported to foreign markets.
So demand went down and there's a carryover of 2008 hay in central and eastern Oregon waiting to be sold. The price has been dropped on that surplus hay and has a rippling effect on prices as the 2009 crop is processed.
The fact that beef and dairy cattle numbers in California have also decreased has left a surplus of hay in that state, and the price has been dropped in an effort to find a market for it.
Don Santos, a rancher and hay grower in the Glide area, said people in Douglas County who buy some grass hay probably won't see much of a change with the price still being $3 to $4 for 50- to 60-pound bales. He added that people wanting good orchard grass hay for their horses can expect to pay about $160 a ton; eastern Oregon alfalfa will be about $150, down $90 a ton from a year ago in some instances.
Santos said he's heard hay production was normal in most north Douglas County areas, but lighter in south county.
Roger Holcomb, who ranches and produces hay in the Kellogg area west of Sutherlin, said the hay crop on his place is similar to 2008. He's optimistic the 600 tons he has for sale will sell.
“Most of the operators wait into the fall - September, October - to start feeding hay again,” Holcomb said. “Sales and deliveries will begin again in July and August.”
“This is the best year I've seen for quality, but the quantity is a little bit light,” said Bare of the overall crop in Douglas County. “Where we go from here is anybody's guess. People ask me all the time what the price will be in August. That's like asking what the price of fuel will be in August. I have no idea.”
• You can reach Features editor Craig Reed at 957-4210 or by e-mail at creed@nrtoday.com.
