Hay storage down across Oklahoma
Oklahoma farmers had only about half the hay on hand on May 1 than they did the same time a year ago.
That’s something to chew on, for sure.
But this year’s estimate of about 750,000 tons isn’t too far away from the approximate 1 million tons farmers have averaged the past couple of decades.
Records kept by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service track the annual production of hay and the amounts of hay farmers store a couple of times a year.
The other stored hay snapshot is collected Dec. 1. That count historically runs much closer to annual production numbers and is much higher than the May 1 number.
That makes sense, given that livestock need to eat and not much else is available during the coldest months of the year.
“As for May 1 stocks, we definitely have had worse years,” Troy Marshall, the Oklahoma state statistician for the statistics service said.
Drought impacts both hay production and the amounts of stored hay, regardless of time of year, Marshall said.
More hay was getting stored in recent years, for example, while hay producers were busy rebuilding their operations after the drought years of 2011 and 2012.
Because of that, “people were being a little more cautious in selling and using hay, so there was a little bit more sitting around.”
Marshall also noted in his discussion that Oklahoma’s hay consists of various types, including alfalfa, grains, Bermuda, fescue and prairie grasses. Of the approximately 6 million tons of hay produced in 2017, about 5.1 million of that were harvested grasses.
Alfalfa, he said, is considered a premium product because it contains a higher amount of protein than the others.
But alfalfa also has to be sprayed to prevent blister beetle infestations (horses can’t tolerate the bug in their feed in high amounts), and, there are requirements that must be followed related to its growth and harvest to maintain its quality.
“There’s a lot of moisture in it, and you can’t put it up if it’s too wet,” Marshall said. “But you also can’t let it get too dry, because its protein is in its leaves, and if it gets too
dry, that lowers its leaf counts.
“I wouldn’t call it an art, but there is a way to do it correctly.”
A different year
Weather doesn’t just affect how much hay is stored. It also affects how much is grown.
Chris Zummallen, a farmer and rancher near Okarche who grows and sells alfalfa and other hay, said he’s seen numerous social media posts made by livestock owners seeking product the past coupleofmonths.
“This winter, I sold more hay that I probably have sold in my life,” Zummallen said. “There is just not a lot of hay out there this year.”
Still, he also observed every year is different.
Normally, an alfalfa grower could expect to get five cuts in a single growing season, with the aim to make each cut before the plant flowers.
“You don’t want it to bloom. The more flowers are on it, the lower the quality.”
By this time of year, he said most alfalfa growers already should have cut and baled at least once. However, because of recent weather, he said he and other growers are behind schedule.
“I cut one field (for a first time) last night,” he said Thursday, “and I have another that’s bloomed up pretty good. But I have a 70 percent chance of rain Saturday; what do I do?”
Zummallen said his hay production last year from several hundred acres amounted to about 1,000 round bales, which he said weigh about 1,000 lbs. each, and more than 8,000 square bales of hay that each weighed between 60 and 70 pounds.
Typically, he said, alfalfa begins to hit markets in late April, though this year’s crop is late. He said hay from grasses will begin to become more plentiful on the market within a couple of weeks.
Hay is an important crop to Zummallen and others because of the price it brings on the market, especially in the case of alfalfa.
“If you have a pet horse, he doesn’t need alfalfa. But when you are talking about a horse that works cattle, or is a reining horse or racehorse, it burns a lot of energy and has to have a lot. Alfalfa does that.”
The same applies to milk cows, which use a lot of energy to produce their product daily.
“It is like comparing pizza to an energy bar,” Zummallen said. “Pizza tastes good, but it isn’t going to have the protein you need for that energy.”
Marshall attributed this year’s decline in stored hay in part to the continued drought impacting western Oklahoma, which, combined with some April freezes, delayed the annual spring growth of pastures in parts of the state.
Also, because some stands of wheat grew very little or not at all over the winter, there was less of that available to graze cattle upon. Finally, he said his office has seen a lot of stored hay moving because of wildfires this year and last.
“We have seen hay trucks headed west to help some of those fire victims, and that plays into this May’s hay stock, in my mind.”
The need to provide livestock with feed throughout the year can affect consumers, Marshall said.
“If stocks are short, that means hay is more expensive, and that’s more feed costs. That increases the cost for the animal, and that translates into higher sales prices at market,” he said. “That added expense ends up at the grocery store.”