Forage Production

Headlines highlighting global geopolitics are increasingly becoming a concern for ag operators, ag investors and the network of vendors who sell products and services in our industry.

The current hay-marketing year began with May 1, 2017, hay stocks down 3 percent from a strong 2016 level. Hay production in 2017 struggled with a number of challenges ranging from drought to wildfires to floods.

Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) insurance was created by the Agricultural Act of 2014. It has been available for purchase since the 2015 crop year. Since then, each year has brought updates to the program.

A plungerless baler, on-the-fly bale monitoring for small balers, tedder/fluffer modifications, bale wagon strapper, improved hay loading equipment … basically, if a piece of equipment sits at Randi B Farm very long, it will never be safe from tinkering. It’s going to be tweaked and improved. That’s a fact.

A producer who is producing a quantity of hay can’t continue to produce 30-pound bales at 100 bales an hour; that producer can’t meet demand.

The phone dings. It’s a text message from a strange number inquiring about your hay for sale. Hesitant and a bit perplexed, you respond. After a few messages back and forth, your gut tells you something’s not quite right – it’s a scam.