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Show Farmers informed on Hay Marketing How much should you pay for hay? How can you be more sure of getting quality hay that will produce more milk or meat? How can you be rewarded in price for producing hay of better quality than average? Lynn Esplin, USU Extension Ex-tension Agent for Iron County notes that as farmers begin harvesting and selling or storing their hay those questions become of vital concern. Ray Finch, Extension Marketing Specialist, Utah State University, says that in the past those questions have not traditionally been satisfactorily answered in hay marketing practices commonly used in Utah. He said, "Hay has sold as hay with little regard for quality as price has been locally negotiated between each buyer and seller. Generally those negotiations have not reflected quality nor knowledge of hay prices over the state or region." "Now there is a better way of marketing hay." declared Valden T. Pitcher of Cornish, Cor-nish, Utah, chairman of the Intermountain Hay Marketing Association. He explained that a Utah hay marketing program has been prompted by demand from Utah buyers and sellers in the association. It includes chemical testing of the hay for nutritional quality and a hay marketing news service. The nutritional value of hay can be related to price by having samples of the hay tested at the USU Laboratory for protein, energy and moisture content. con-tent. A hay market new service launched by the Utah State Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Market News Service has begun monthly reporting prices that alfalfa hay is selling for over the state. Buyers and sellers negotiating sales of hay can use those reports and adjust price for a particular lot hay according to its tested nutritional value and its visual appearance, the Extension Specialist explained. ex-plained. He said that animal nutrition specialists at USU have designed special tables to guide buyers and sellers of alfalfa hay in adjusting price according to the hay's nutritional value. This will reward producers for harvesting earlier in the pre-bloom pre-bloom stage when the content of protein and energy is higher. Paul V. Fonnesbeck, USU Animal Nutrition Researcher, Resear-cher, says the Utah hay marketing program can have local, national and international significance. As hay samples are taken for laboratory analysis and are properly described, the information is added to the International Feedstuffs Institute data bank at USU. It becomes a part of the information available not only in Utah but throughout the world to guide in animal nutrition. |