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--> --> Hay prices on the rise Farmers capitalize on alfalfa shortage The Associated Press SALEM - Tight water supplies are helping Oregon farmers get good prices for alfalfa hay. Hay that usually goes for $100 to $110 a ton has jumped as high as $130 to $150 a ton, providing farmers with an opportunity to make money in a depressed agricultural market. Alfalfa and other hay grasses rank as Oregon's fourth-largest cash crop. With a dollar value of $279 million, the hay crop exceeded milk, potatoes and wheat on the state's top 10 list of agricultural commodities. "If you're buying hay, you're not very happy," said Homer Rowley, the state statistician with the Oregon Agricultural Statistics Service. Prices have increased because Oregon's largest alfalfa-producing counties in Eastern and Southern Oregon are growing less alfalfa this year because of the drought. And because there's less grass for cattle on dry range land, ranchers have to buy more forage just as alfalfa prices rise, Rowley said. But despite the high prices, they're not celebrating at Quality Trading Co., a hay exporting business in Donald. Manager Dennis Abo said the company's overseas customers are passing on Oregon's high-priced alfalfa hay and waiting for prices to fall. Straw might be an answer for farmers and Quality Trading. Quality Trading is owned by 22 Willamette Valley grass seed farmers who also collect leftover straw from grass seed fields and process it into bales. The 7,400 tons of straw handled by Quality Trading goes to export customers in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. In Asia, farmers often mix grass straw with high-protein feeds. Farmers in the United States, however, have preferred other forages. But the drought is causing some to give straw a second look. Dave Nelson, of the Oregon Seed Council, said the trade association has been taking a large number of inquiries for straw. Some of the calls have come from Idaho and Montana, which Nelson said is a symptom of the drought conditions across the Western United States. Grass seed farmers used to burn straw left on their fields. Now, straw balers move in after the seed harvest. In exchange for taking the straw off the field, seed growers have traditionally let the straw balers keep the straw for free. That arrangement may be changing. Demand for straw is so strong this year that there's talk among straw balers of paying farmers a stipend, Nelson said. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing