Washington Hay Farmers Facing Challenging Environment

Hay growers across Washington have enjoyed a great year when it comes to growing conditions.  But unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the economic conditions growers are facing.  Andrew Eddie, President of the Washington state Hay Growers Association said input costs for growers have shot up considerably over the past three months.

"So that that also is factoring into kind of what you know what we got going on and makes our upfront costs a lot more for crop that hopefully we maybe get close to making break even on and getting our return on investment," Eddie said.  "But it's a little tough to pencil that one out.”

Input Costs Not The Only Challenge For Hay Growers

In addition to those elevated input costs, demand he noted is soft, both internationally and domestically.  He said despite dry conditions and reduced forage across the west, it remains to be seen if the livestock sector will tap local hay growers for additional feed.

“I think they'll be they'll be hunting for it, they'll be looking for it. But then it comes down to what they're willing to pay, and what they can afford to pay, to be honest," he added.  "With the corn market taking a little bit of a hit over the last little while, I think corn is going to be fed more, as it kind of always is, and it's cheap enough where it's a good energy source for a cheap price.  And so I think they'll choose that over alfalfa, but hopefully we'll kind of see it turn and kind of build on that and go from there.”

Eddie stressed while economic conditions are challenging, growers across the Evergreen state have been reporting solid quality in this year’s hay crop.

 
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