This year’s Hay Kings tell how they won
Growers John and Debbie Volle and John Myers have been very pleased with their respective hay seasons this year.
Their efforts and their hay crops were recognized and rewarded Nov. 18 at the 23rd annual Oregon Hay & Forage Association’s Hay King Contest that was held in Lakeview, Ore.
The Volles of Madras, Ore., claimed Hay King honors in the Grass category and then earned Best of Show with their third cutting orchard grass.
Myers of Echo, Ore., had the top entries in Retail Alfalfa, Grass/Legume and Cereal Hay. Gary McManus of Lakeview was also a winner, earning the Hay King label in the Dairy Alfalfa category.
There were 28 hay entries from 13 Oregon growers in this year’s contest. That’s up from last year when there were 19 entries.
Scott Pierson, vice president of the state association and a hay grower in the Silver Lake, Ore., area, and Glenn Shewmaker, an extension forage specialist at the University of Idaho, were the judges.
“I thought the hay quality, especially the grass quality, was really high this year,” Pierson said. “The hay quality has improved every year at the contest.
“It was a really close race in picking the winners,” he explained. “It came down to the color being a factor, and the presence of dust. I just love combining the sensory analysis, putting your hands on it and smelling it, along with the chemical testing.”
John Volle credited “a completely different fertilizer program” and an adjusted pH (a measurement of how acidic water is) in the irrigation water for his hay that received high marks. He said he uses only about half the nitrogen compared to the amount most other growers put on their fields. He said changing the pH resulted in two tons an acre more for an overall increase of 250 tons over the 2016 yield.
All of the Volles’ hay is certified noxious weed seed free.
“I sort of knew it would test well,” Volle said of the bale he entered in the contest. “We’re glad with the results. Both of us work really hard to do the best we can. We have happy customers. They are glad to see we’re doing a good job.”
Myers said having three Hay Kings in the contest was “pretty special.” He said he was confident in his entries, “but you never know until the judges start tearing your hay apart.”
Myers said one key to growing premium hay is good ground preparation, including testing the soil. The hay grower explained that his fields are laser leveled “so our flood irrigation is predictable and repeatable.”
“It’s not a guessing game,” Myers said of irrigating from Butter Creek. “We use our resources extremely well. We waste nothing. Laser leveling helps us preserve and reuse our water resources. We can adjust the flow into our system so we’re not overflowing and wasting many cubic feet of water. Water does not leave our place.”
He added that he is constantly monitoring the humidity and the temperature during the hay season. He said the premium window to bale hay this past summer was from 1 to 4 in the morning. He would swath only what he could then bale that night.
“You can’t sleep when you need to be making bales,” he said. “If you get too many acres down and can’t get it baled that day, then you’re just making sticks and powder.”
Like Volle, Myers said having Hay King winners confirms to customers that they are purchasing the best of hay.
“It assures customers that they are getting as good a product as I can provide,” Myers said.
Pierson said the annual Hay King Contest provides the participants with feedback on how to improve their hay growing operations.
“It drives everybody to be a better hay grower,” he said.
The Lake County Hay & Forage Association was the host of this year’s hay conference and contest. Dan Roberts, that association’s president, thanked the businesses and individuals who donated contest and raffle prizes.
Next year’s hay conference and contest will be held in the Albany/Corvallis area during the third week of November and will be a joint session with the Oregon Forage & Grassland Council.