Making hay
August 26, 2009
By Hope Strong

Many local farmers dug in with traditional agriculture

PHOTO: Lorin Wilson of Alta watches the weather as he considers the second cutting of his Alfalfa field. While lots of early summer precipitation has increased hay production, affecting the commodity price, Wilson and other valley farmers are putting up quality product that beautifies the hillside in the process.

While Idaho has always gotten props for the crops that end up super-sized in your Happy Meal, potatoes are just one of a few important commodities that are grown in the region. And while the Great Famine may have taught the Irish not to rely too heavily upon spuds, Teton Valley farmers have diversifi ed over generations to focus on alternatives such as hay and grain to feed their livestock and their families.

With only a handful of seed potato growers remaining in the valley, the economic and aesthetic importance of agriculture rests upon the shoulders of many farmers who work diligently from the harrowing of soil in the spring to harvest time. They literally make hay while the sun shines. And while the climate and short season in Teton Valley may sometimes limit the quality of feed grown on the valley fl oor and up in the dry farms, Teton Valley hay operations can generally get two cuts of hay that ranges in quality from fair to premium grade with occasional harvests of supreme grade that might even head to troughs of thoroughbreds.

An herbaceous perennial, stands of hay can produce a viable harvest for years before they thin and need to be reseeded.

Most often though, the harrowing of fields in late April or early May in Teton Valley is enough to serve as a wake up call and promote new growth for the year’s growing season. The harrowing process turns up the soil, breaks up the stubble from the previous year and, very importantly, smooths out the fields made rough by the gopher mounds that proliferate at all ends of the valley.

Because of the deep snows that pile up in the hills of the valley’s east side, Alta is often one of the last places in Teton Valley to begin its growing season, but local farmer Lorin Wilson can usually get his first cut on the ground by July 4, though Wilson generally likes to get started by the last week in June. Wilson sells the majority of his hay to Jackson horse markets. As a commodity, supply and demand dictates the price of hay during any given year.

While farmers were able to get anywhere from $120 to $300 per ton last year, an extremely wet June resulted in a bumper hay crop throughout the region, glutting the market and pushing the prices down to less than half of what it was a year ago.

“Last year, I heard a hay broker say that if you can put string around it, he could sell it,” Wilson said. “This year, it’s the opposite.”

After hay fi elds are harrowed, a time when fields are also fertilized, water and sunshine are the two obvious ingredients necessary to produce a good cut, but too much of either can be detrimental. Deep soils in the valley can produce with a few good rains, but soils containing more gravel will need consistent irrigation or the hay will burn up, compromising the quality.

Veteran farmers and ranchers can eyeball a truckload of bales and nearly guess the quality of the hay stacked high on the trailers bound for feed lots. Many dairies, however, are more scientific, testing the product for protein, moisture content, and the important digestible nutrients crucial to milk production. Alfalfa is actually a legume, a flowering plant in the pea family that produces the highest feed value of all common hay.

Depending on demand, farmers in Teton Valley will blend Alfalfa with Timothy or Orchard Grass to produce feed for horses, dairy cows, beef cows, sheep, and goats, though straight grass or 100 percent Alfalfa is often used as well.

Higher quality hay is generally when the crop is cut before it is able to mature beyond a certain point in the field, though the quality is often compromised by exposure to the elements after the hay is cut and before the forage crop is baled and stored. As a result, farmers look at the maturity level of their product in the field and consider the weather forecast before cutting.

In a perfect scenario, adequate but not excessive rain complements sunshine until the crop is cut by a swather and raked. Raking is necessary if the cut windrows receive too much rain, and farmers will often rake rows together to consolidate product for the larger balers. One ton bales, which measure 4’ x 4’ x 8’, are the standard for large livestock operations, but hay farmers will often choose to use bales that are a foot or two smaller by width and height to accommodate more tonnage on truckloads being shipped out of the valley.

The much smaller bales, generally measure 14” x 18” x 46” and weigh anywhere between 60 to 90 pounds. These bales, which are able to be moved by hand, are also common as farmers like Wilson sell locally to outfi ts that need smaller quantities. Hay that is not going to be shipped out and which serves the livestock located where the product is cut can also be put up in round bales, loaves, or other methods.

While hay farmers could bale their product during the heat of the day, many choose to bale after the sun has set. With most of the protein contained in the leaves of the alfalfa, leaf retention is important to producing hay that is higher quality.

Grass is much more forgiving, but many grass fields are baled at night as well so that the product is not too brittle. Even the untrained eye can spot lower quality hay bales that are bleached and dry, holding fewer nutrients.

If, on the other hand, hay is baled when there is too much moisture, the product can become moldy. While ruminants with four stomachs like cows, sheep, goats, alpacas, and llamas can handle moldy hay, horses are often made sick by moldy product. Another consequence of baling hay with too much moisture is the threat of internal combustion as the product rots, sometimes resulting in fire.

Once hay is cut, raked, and baled, storage out of the elements is important. Stacks of hay can be effectively protected under the roof of a shed or tarped, though many choose to store their product in the enclosure of a barn.

While one man can now tackle hundreds of acres of hay with modern technology, Teton Valley has only so much demand for hay these days. Though long winters with variable weather often increase the need for hay to feed livestock, some farmers trade their swather and baler for a semi after a successful harvest, taking local hay outside the valley. Wherever it ends up, the production of hay in Teton Valley offers a good living to many farmers, and everyone else benefits from the beauty of agriculture in action.