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Farmers have endured the ups and the downs of Mother Nature this year. With snow in May,
planting delays due to wet conditions, and a midsummer dry spell, corn, beans, and other
crops have suffered. Hay producers also struggled this spring due to persistent rain.
Dale Leslein, an auctioneer and manager at the Dyersville Sales Company in northeast,
Iowa, has seen a lot of damaged and wet hay come through his auction this summer. With
forage coming from all over the Midwest, Washington, Wyoming and even Canada, Leslein knows all
too well how conditions are affecting this year's hay crop.
Dale Leslein / Dyersville Sales Co.: "The quality is down because last year we had perfect
conditions in a drought year you can get the hay baled dry. And this year the farmers are
struggling to get the hay made properly. And we've had a lot of rain, a lot of untimely
rain and also producers have not been able to cut their hay on a regular 28 or 30 day
schedule. They've had to be at the mercy of the weather so it's affecting quality and
it's going to affect quantity as well."
The sizzling summer of 2012 made for a dry crop season, which wasn't a completely bad
thing for hay producers. Demand was high, but the supply was short which caused prices
to skyrocket. This week at the Dyersville Hay Auction, a second crop of mixed orchard
grass and alfalfa sold for a top price of $280 per ton.
Dale Leslein / Dyersville Sales Co.: "We got a lot of wet hay a lot of its big squares
which carry a couple hundred pounds per bale. Extra moisture on it and the shelf life on
that hay isn't very long and we saw the wet hay sell at a deduction today and the good
dry hay sell at a premium."
When it comes to the major crops produced in the United States, hay ranks behind corn
and soybeans. But hay is much more labor intensive.
Joel Van Wyk produces corn, soybeans and hay near Sully, Iowa. Van Wyk believes the market
price of hay and the level of difficulty that comes with producing it may be causing some
people to switch from hay to row crops.
Joel Van Wyk / Sully, Iowa: "Its kind of a challenge to put up good hay, it is not easy.
Some years obviously work better than others, but it's a challenge."
Despite the hard work, Van Wyk plans to continue growing hay.
Joel Van Wyk / Farmer in Sully, Iowa: "There's just not enough hay to meet the demand right
now. There's more people that are buying hay than are growing hay."
Due to delays this season, many Midwest hay producers are just on their second cutting
-- some are on their third cutting. And as usual, weather conditions continue to be the
x-factor. According to Leslein, between April and July of 2012, hay prices shot up 350%
- going from $7- per ton to $300 per ton. Weather, and the balance of supply and demand,
will play a big role for hay conditions this summer.
Dale Leslein / Dyersville Sales Co.: "We need a little more wind and we need some heat again.
It's been very cool the last week. Hay's been lying a week now and we have record low temperatures.
This is October weather; this isn't July weather or early August. We just need a little better
weather conditions anyhow it'd be nice if we could get some nice warm sunny days and
10-15 mph wind and get some very good hay made. If we can get about a week without any
rain."
For Market to Market, I'm Paul Yeager.