Amber waves
Animals depend on Solano's grasses
A harvester cuts sudangrass east of Leisure Town Road. It's is the highest yielding summer grass in California. (Rick Roach/The Reporter)
Adrain Salazar (left) and manager Scott Hulbert of Higby's Feed in Dixon load Solano County raised rye grass bales onto a delivery truck.
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Product profile Hay and grasses grown in Solano County in 2005: Rye: 24,240 tons; alfalfa, 216,281 tons; grain hay: 10,805 tons; grass hay: 1,631 tons; dryland barley: 5,054 tons; sudangrass: 36,039 tons; dryland wheat: 26,649 tons; irrigitated wheat: 27,892 tons Consumers can buy hay by the bail or by the ton. Prices vary, depending on location in the country. This year shortages in the Midwest will drive up prices. In Northern California, premium alfalfa was selling for $140 a ton, on average, in the middle of August, according to the Western Livestock Journal. Hay goes to feed lots, feed stores, out of state and out of country. Wheat is sometimes processed into flour. Consumers can find hay at feed stores, such as Higby's in Dixon. Independent entrepreneurs market the commodity. Websites, such as www.haymarkets.com and www.cattletoday.net, connect buyers with sellers. Fun fact: An elephant may eat up to 500 pounds of hay in one day. |
The couple started a small business in Dixon back in 1984 to cater to the surrounding farm community. Higby's Country Feed has what farmers and ranchers need, whether it's a couple tons of high-quality alfalfa or fencing for goats.
The family lives on-site, so there is always someone around to help customers. The Higbys pride themselves on offering a wide variety of hay and grass for animals. The growing business is one of the largest retailers of hay in Solano County, selling about 75,000 bales annually, according to Roland Higby.
"We know our customers, our products, our distributors, manufacturers and growers, and we know livestock," Roland and Denise say on their Web site, Higbyfeed.com. "Our knowledgeable and hard-working staff includes one of our sons, who grew up in the business and has been evaluating hay and livestock products since he was a child."
The Higbys get most of their hay from local growers, though they sometimes go outside the county. Solano County grows a variety of hays and grass, according to the county crop report.
In 2005, Solano County ranked No. 3 among California counties growing sudangrass, which is used primarily for cattle feed. Last year's local crop was valued at $4.21 million. In 2004, sudangrass brought $3.99 million. This number does not include the costs of doing business for the farmer, which includes seeds, water, labor, pesticide, gasoline, equipment and other items.
Solano County ranked No. 4 statewide in production of grain hays. In 2005, the most recent figures available, Solano's farmers raised and sold 10,805 tons of grain hay, for a gross sale price of $961,600. That topped the previous year, when gross sales were $651,400 for 7,944 tons, according to the 2005 crop report.
Most of Solano County's hays and grasses are shipped out of the county for animal or human consumption, according to Solano County Agricultural Commissioner Jerry Howard.
"It gets shipped all over northern California and to other locations," Howard said. "It's hard to track it once it leaves the county."
"Our wheat used to all go to mills," said Bob Hansen, president of the Suisun Valley Fruitgrowers Association.
Farmers rotate their tomato crops every couple years with either wheat or barley. This helps eradicate disease and insects that would otherwise move in.
Bill Hale is a third-generation farmer in the Cordelia area. He grows wheat some years, but this year he and his wife Lori planted about 400 acres of safflower and edible beans. Markets and Mother Nature were tough on the Hale's hay crops last year.
Higby buys alfalfa, oat, three-way oat, barley and wheat, rye and an orchard alfalfa mix. If customers ask for a different type of feed, he is willing to search for it. The Higbys store some of their hay at the shop, but they also have contracts with farmers to store hay on their land.
"There are several local ranchers we buy from," Roland Higby said.
His customers include equestrians, sheep, goat and cattle ranchers and others who own various types of livestock.
Alfalfa, green leafy grass hay, is a top moneymaker for Solano's farmers. Last year, farmers grossed $26.6 million from 216,281 tons. Irrigated wheat brought in $2.64 million, down from $3.99 million in 2004, according to the 2005 crop report.
Solano County has an active hay certification program. County inspectors check hay that is grown or that moves through Solano County to ensure that it is free from bugs and diseases.
"We are delegated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture," Howard said. "We do quite a bit of certification for hay crops."
A lot of hay inspected in Solano County is shipped to Japan, which doesn't have enough land to support the hay needed for livestock.
"They have room to raise the livestock, but they need the hay for animal feed," Howard said.
While Northern Solano County's weather seems to agree with many hays and grasses, farmers always battle the elements and the markets. This year's fierce New Year's Eve storm, late spring rains and staggering heat wave had farmers worried about their crops.
But Solano County's hay going to Higby looks pretty good, he said.
"We expected this year to be tough," Roland Higby said. "But in actuality, the quality is quite good."
Elsewhere in the nation, hay farmers have suffered huge losses because of severe weather.
"According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service in mid-July, 60 percent of Mississippi's' pasture and hay land conditions are listed as poor or very poor," the Mississippi State University's Officer of Agricultural Communications reported. "The same conditions can be found in 83 percent of Alabama pastures, 63 percent in Texas and 61 percent in Oklahoma."
What does that mean for hay farmers in Solano County? Maybe a boost in price for their product.
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