Mountain Cowgirl
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- Mar 19, 2021
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Due to impending heat, I got out for my 3-mile rural walk at 6 AM. I walked the ditch road since they had mowed it. I was lucky enough to catch the owner of the alfalfa field and get the facts. Disregard any previous now-proven fake news about this alfalfa field. I have lost my ability to judge distance and size accurately and info from the ag students, most foreigners, was unreliable due to their misunderstanding what I was asking.
FACTS
1. It is not part of the Ag Extention college experimental farms. He does allow them to use it for study.
2. It is 30 acres
3. It was reseeded this year and fertilized as the extension service recommended.
4. Last year's yield was an average of 2.5 tons per acre and 4 cuttings to total 10 tons per acre or 300 tons for 2020.
5. 1st cutting this year was 3.5 tons per acre.
6. 2nd cutting was slightly over 3 tons per acre.
7. Both cuttings were sold for $250 per ton.
8. The guy that cuts and bales the hay also trucks it.
9. Once it is out of the field and stacked, he is paid $250 a ton minus the harvest fee.
10. The cost of hauling it to the buyers, mostly local dairies is paid by the buyer. The buyers are paying $250 a ton plus trucking.
11. This may be the last year for this field as the housing developers have upped their already outrageous offer.
12. The other 30 acres of former pasture has already been sold and equipment is on-site to start the streets and put in utilities. The houses already built (100 acres worth) and inhabited were once part of his 130-acre pasture now with only 30 acres sold and left to build. They are paving the county road that will give excellent access to this area, so the developers want his remaining 30-acre hayfield so badly they taste alfalfa being digested and turned into big profits.
13. He says while some do use colored twine to mark cuttings, his hay contractor uses what is on sale in big quantities as most go to dairy hay sheds and they only buy top quality and could care less what cutting.
14. Both cuttings are considered premium hay and he hopes for 2 more cutting of the same for a total of at least 12 tons per acre for 2021. That would be 60 tons more than 2020 and at $250 a ton, a nice increase over last year. He says the amount they are willing to pay for the field is more than he could make off hay if he lived as long as Moses. He is in his 60's and still climbing a tall ladder to repair wheel line leaks. His dog refused to accompany him for the first time this morning. She is getting old and it was just too hot even at 6 AM. He thinks this may be a sign it is time to sell. I think his dog saw the blue snake yesterday and freaked. We old girls are getting a bit jumpy with the big increase in snakes this year on hayfield road. I think the increased snake crossings are due to the snake's habitat being reduced.
Att: Faster Horses ---- Not only do we have blue snakes in rough and tough Northeast Oregon, but we use six of them for binding hay.
FACTS
1. It is not part of the Ag Extention college experimental farms. He does allow them to use it for study.
2. It is 30 acres
3. It was reseeded this year and fertilized as the extension service recommended.
4. Last year's yield was an average of 2.5 tons per acre and 4 cuttings to total 10 tons per acre or 300 tons for 2020.
5. 1st cutting this year was 3.5 tons per acre.
6. 2nd cutting was slightly over 3 tons per acre.
7. Both cuttings were sold for $250 per ton.
8. The guy that cuts and bales the hay also trucks it.
9. Once it is out of the field and stacked, he is paid $250 a ton minus the harvest fee.
10. The cost of hauling it to the buyers, mostly local dairies is paid by the buyer. The buyers are paying $250 a ton plus trucking.
11. This may be the last year for this field as the housing developers have upped their already outrageous offer.
12. The other 30 acres of former pasture has already been sold and equipment is on-site to start the streets and put in utilities. The houses already built (100 acres worth) and inhabited were once part of his 130-acre pasture now with only 30 acres sold and left to build. They are paving the county road that will give excellent access to this area, so the developers want his remaining 30-acre hayfield so badly they taste alfalfa being digested and turned into big profits.
13. He says while some do use colored twine to mark cuttings, his hay contractor uses what is on sale in big quantities as most go to dairy hay sheds and they only buy top quality and could care less what cutting.
14. Both cuttings are considered premium hay and he hopes for 2 more cutting of the same for a total of at least 12 tons per acre for 2021. That would be 60 tons more than 2020 and at $250 a ton, a nice increase over last year. He says the amount they are willing to pay for the field is more than he could make off hay if he lived as long as Moses. He is in his 60's and still climbing a tall ladder to repair wheel line leaks. His dog refused to accompany him for the first time this morning. She is getting old and it was just too hot even at 6 AM. He thinks this may be a sign it is time to sell. I think his dog saw the blue snake yesterday and freaked. We old girls are getting a bit jumpy with the big increase in snakes this year on hayfield road. I think the increased snake crossings are due to the snake's habitat being reduced.
Att: Faster Horses ---- Not only do we have blue snakes in rough and tough Northeast Oregon, but we use six of them for binding hay.
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