Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Fresh Life for Oat Hay?
In Central Oregon, there are an abundance of tired out fields with poor stands that are begging for fresh life. However, what comes with replowing fields is a huge yield of a cover crop, such as barley or oat hay. The horse market in the area is not prepared to handle a large influx of the two kinds of hay currently, but with the economy, it may be changing.
Wheel Rake
This spring I puchased a Kuhn 108 speedrake to replace my NH 255 tedder rake, and I must say it was the best investment I have made yet. I bought the 4 wheeled rake for $3000 used from a farmer in Culver, and it has greatly improved the speed of my raking passes.
http://www.kuhn.com/
http://www.kuhn.com/
Welcome!
Thank you for visiting the blog for maricleland.com. Here I (Frank Maricle) will discuss issues that involve hay growers and consumers in Central Oregon and beyond. Feel free to post comment and ask questions
Hay Outlook in Central Oregon for Fall 2010
This has been one interesting hay year for Central Oregon. Mother Nature froze us all spring, which caused first cutting to be later than usual. This pushed second closer to mid august for some growers, and third cutting, (if you got one) has been pretty small. To make things worse, a lot of second cutting got rained on in september. Yields turned out to be decent, but with all the rained on hay out there, good quality horse feed will be harder and harder to find.
I have been talking to some small time brokers, and they are already having a hard time finding quality feed to fill the demands of their valley customers. For this early in the season, this could mean some serious price spiking come January. If you are shopping for hay, get it now, because later in the year there just won't be any. I don't think it will be as bad as 2008, when prices jumped up to $240-$260 a ton, but I will not be suprised in the least if we see hay flirting around $200 a ton.
Earlier this season, orchard grass was moving slowly, and around $110 per ton. Barns were full, and hay was just not moving. Talking with some alfalfa growers, they said that they managed to get their alfalfa up and tested, and some premium dairy quality was being trucked out of the area, but with milk prices in the tank, demand was just not there. Now with the rain and the positive milk price movement, alfalfa will be getting moved quicker. I am feeling bullish on the fall/winter prices, and maybe with all the alfalfa being plowed up down in Klamath Falls, the trend might actually last a few years.
I have been talking to some small time brokers, and they are already having a hard time finding quality feed to fill the demands of their valley customers. For this early in the season, this could mean some serious price spiking come January. If you are shopping for hay, get it now, because later in the year there just won't be any. I don't think it will be as bad as 2008, when prices jumped up to $240-$260 a ton, but I will not be suprised in the least if we see hay flirting around $200 a ton.
Earlier this season, orchard grass was moving slowly, and around $110 per ton. Barns were full, and hay was just not moving. Talking with some alfalfa growers, they said that they managed to get their alfalfa up and tested, and some premium dairy quality was being trucked out of the area, but with milk prices in the tank, demand was just not there. Now with the rain and the positive milk price movement, alfalfa will be getting moved quicker. I am feeling bullish on the fall/winter prices, and maybe with all the alfalfa being plowed up down in Klamath Falls, the trend might actually last a few years.
Networking
Networking has been an important part of business for a long time. You know the saying, "It's not what you know, it's who you know." This is no different in the agriculture industry, and this is usually done by hearsay and talking to different growers and clients during auctions, community events, etc. But this usually limits the circle of people you get in contact with.
I think it is vital for growers to communicate with each other. Sharing information about prices, yields, as well as tips for weed control, baling quality, etc, is a huge boon for the various growers.
I have searched online for forums, or up to date information concerning local markets, and I have had very poor luck finding any quality information. There is very little information that is up to date, which is really annoying when trying to prepare for next years crop planting, or planning on taking advantage of local trends. However I have found a few sites that are trying to address this issue as well has having information.
http://www.oregonhaygrowers.com/hayreports.html This website is not even close to up to date, most mosts are way back in 2007.
http://www.hayfinder.org/ Good site for posting hay for sale, can't sort by date, so there is no idea how old the posts are.
http://oregonstate.edu/dept/coarc/alfalfa-hay The OSU agriculture Research branch page for Alfalfa tests and research.
One purpose of this blog is to share information I have gained by talking with growers, brokers, and clients, in order to benefit the industry as a whole. Every week we meet new poeple that have a wealth of information, and why not share what we learn?
I think it is vital for growers to communicate with each other. Sharing information about prices, yields, as well as tips for weed control, baling quality, etc, is a huge boon for the various growers.
I have searched online for forums, or up to date information concerning local markets, and I have had very poor luck finding any quality information. There is very little information that is up to date, which is really annoying when trying to prepare for next years crop planting, or planning on taking advantage of local trends. However I have found a few sites that are trying to address this issue as well has having information.
http://www.oregonhaygrowers.com/hayreports.html This website is not even close to up to date, most mosts are way back in 2007.
http://www.hayfinder.org/ Good site for posting hay for sale, can't sort by date, so there is no idea how old the posts are.
http://oregonstate.edu/dept/coarc/alfalfa-hay The OSU agriculture Research branch page for Alfalfa tests and research.
One purpose of this blog is to share information I have gained by talking with growers, brokers, and clients, in order to benefit the industry as a whole. Every week we meet new poeple that have a wealth of information, and why not share what we learn?
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