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Soft hay is more palatable

By Gary Sliworsky
Ag. Rep.

The following is part 2 of an article on horse hay by Joel Bagg, Forage Specialist with OMAFRA.
Soft hay is more palatable to horses. Unlike cattle, horses use their mouth and lips to manipulate hay and pasture plants when eating. They easily sort feed and eat leaves while leaving the coarse stems.
While there are some opportunities to market large square and round bales to horse owners, small square bales provide the greatest opportunity to meet the premium price horse hay market. This means manual labour or investment in automated small bale handling equipment. Small square bales are usually handled many times, so they need to be firm, “square shouldered” and hold their shape. A consistent bale size is important to fit trucking requirements. Small square bales should be stored on their edge. Similar to the hoops of a barrel, the twine helps the bales maintain their shape and prevents flattening. This adds to a bale’s ability to “breathe” and dissipate moisture.
There is some demand from horse owners for large bales, based on their lower cost. Large bales are a convenient way to feed large groups of horses outside, but many horse farms do not have a loader tractor to handle them. Large bales can be “flaked” and are therefore also easier than large round bales to feed to stalled horses inside. Because they are denser and need to be drier at baling, large square bales can be more challenging to make without mould and dust.
“Marketing” is not producing a product and then selling it for whatever price can be had. Marketing involves identifying a product that costumers want to buy and then producing the product. Talk to potential customers to identify market opportunities. What kind of hay do they want, and in what kind of package? Are you targeting local or export markets? How will you ensure you get paid? Gain market share by selling a quality product, rather than selling at a lower price. Work closely with a reputable hay dealer, or develop your own markets by networking, advertising and personal contact.
Hay is sold on the basis of reputation. For repeat business, be sure to consistently meet the buyer’s expectations on the type and quality of hay. Taking care of existing customer loyalties is easier than trying to find new customers. Be sure to have adequate liability insurance. Hay producers targeting the horse market usually have alternate markets for hay that does not meet the quality criteria because of rain-damage or mould. This is often sold into the beef cow market for a much lower price.
Successful horse hay producers and marketers pay attention to small details. Using newer hay harvest technology, such as new design conditioners, rotary rakes, windrow invertors, preservatives, and bale accumulators, can reduce drying time and labour. Hay crops have high removal rates of phosphorus potash, so fertility is important.
There are opportunities to “add value” to hay crops by producing specific hay products, and by providing customer service such as trucking. Farmers that view horse hay as a surplus market and do not produce the product specifically for horse hay are often disappointed and miss out on the potential premium prices necessary to make a profit. Refer to “Making & Marketing Horse Hay” and other articles on the OMAFRA Forage Website at www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/field/forages.html.

Dates to Remember
Mar. 2 – Vet Services Committee Annual Meeting, 1:00 pm, Emo Curling Club