Show MARKETING ALFALFA PRESENTS SEVERAL DIFFICULT PROBLEMS 75 1 I 11 n 1 K 1 q t L qan KAJ an t 4 e 1 N aa A healthy looking pork filmily family I 1 id an alfalfa field prepared by the united states department of 0 agriculture the irrigated areas of wae toe southwestern united states can produce a high market grade of alfalfa liny hay but there are several difficult problems that must be solved in order profitably to market the hay say specialists of ct the bureau of markets and crop estimates ti united states department of agriculture method of baling the first step which lias has a direct dl bearing upon the marketing ot of albect alfalfa fit Is ballag the rainfall in the southwest Is exceedingly light during the haymaking hay bay making season and for this reason much of the liar hay Is baled out of the windrow or cock when hay is billed baled from the windrow in sufficiently green state to save all the leaves it cannot be pressed tightly because of the danger of healing beating and shippers therefore frequently experience considerable difficulty in loading car cars with the minimum for which they pay charges ray hay which has been stacked and allowed to dry can be baled more compact but in baling stack hay many of the leaves shatter because of the dryness dry according to the application by many inspectors of the present grade rules this hay Is of a lower joner grade than when the leaves cling to the stems notwithstanding the fact that the leaves may be contained in the bale sources of trouble bleached hay together with weeds causes considerable in marketing alfalfa it Is well known that alfalfa hay bleaches quickly when nhen exposed to bright sunlight but there is a wide difference of opinion as to just the amount of nutrient that Is lost in bleaching commercial grade rules however are based in part upon this factor producers and shippers in these sections contend that too much weight is given the color factor in lie he commercial grades for alfalfa and not sufficient weight to its feeding value prom r rom investigations investigation recently made by the bureau of markets and chop estimates it appears that when the like present grading rules are rigidly and technically applied as Is frequently the case on declining markets it is impossible under the most ideal conditions to produce choice grade alfalfa the presence of a weed a blade of grass or of a bleached blen ched stem stein will prevent a bale from grading choice and it Is practically impossible to obtain hay bay which Is entirely clear of any of these things considerable hay Is bought and sold on this grade however but the use of it and sometimes also of the grade no 1 causes the shipper a heavy loss the specialists believe that commercial grades for any kind of hay should be made so that the physical limitations in production and preparation will be properly recognized and that such grades should be uniformly applied pa ed and not influenced whatever hj by tile the state of the market causes of wide margins I 1 most lOst shippers in the irrigated sections tIoN ns seem willing to handle hay at a gross profit of 1 per ton if the chance 0 losses on account of rejections could be eliminated the rejections are almost always based upon the claim that the hay Is not up to grade hut but occur almost entirely upon a declining market with only the meager protection against this practice and resultant coq loss furnished by inspection services maintained by the trade organizations of the various markets lie he Is compelled to raise ills his mar margin in of gross gros profit to 2 or 3 per ton when the producer notes the wide difference between the price which he has bas received for his hay and the price alce quoted at the adjacent market he feels that the shipper or dealer Is taking advantage adian tage ot of him and is making too largo large a profit the producers desire to share in this supposedly large profit is one of the principal causes of the operative cooperative co wave that Is now agitating southwestern alfalfa growers when this desire is stimulated by an enthusiastic prospective manager it seems to be not a K very difficult matter to form an organization of producers to ship and market hay co operative cooperative marketing association cooperative co cl operative market associations can no doubt market their own hay as aa advantageously ns the individual ship per provided their manager is as well trained and possesses equal experience and business ability but they are sure to meet the same marketing difficulties and will have hare just as many rejections and losses loses which must be deducted from the proceeds of theli their sales many of the irrigated sections of 0 the southwest do not ship more than from 2000 to cars of hay each ear and this business Is in some instances divided be between teen two or tareo shippers who also conduct other businesses in connection thus greatly reducing overhead ex expenses espenes co opera tive shIp shipping associations are being organized in several of these projects tile the cure for the present marketing difficulties difficult ie in the alfalfa sections ol 01 the southwest would seem to be along the line of better standards and their impartial applications say the marketing special Ws |