Just ask Andrew Eddie, and he’ll tell you that 2022 is a challenging year for all hay growers. But he noted it’s not challenging for the typical variables like weather and market prices, but rather for input costs.
The Vice President of the Washington state Hay Growers Association says it’s the wild west when it comes to inputs.
“Prices are high for fertilizers and chemicals, fuel, it’s hard to find labor across the board, so, I think it’s going to be one of those just kind of grit your teeth and see what you can make work this year crop-wise and input-wise.”
Eddie notes many growers are looking at the back half of the year, thinking they’ll help their bottom line by cutting back typical operation efforts and procedures. But he says trimming what your crop needs is not always the right course of action.
“Crop prices are going to be good but be mindful that right now is a little unsteady across all boards, especially with shipping issues, transportation issues, strikes, infrastructure failures, and stuff like that. It’s just not the time to completely cut stuff out, but it’s time to be cognizant of what you’re doing and really keep your eye on what’s coming in and what’s going out.”
More so than in typical years, it’s important that growers are very mindful of their operating costs. He notes those higher input expenses will eat into the higher prices growers will get for their hay.
