EDMONTON – Canadian hay exporters know Japanese producers like Canadian timothy, but they don’t know why.
“We’re trying to figure out why they buy what they buy,” said Albert Van Genderen of NAFTAC Commodities, a timothy export company from Lethbridge.
“We know what the reasons could be, but we don’t know why.”
Knowing why Japanese export companies choose Canadian timothy over less-expensive sudan grass or Bermuda hay that’s grown in California could give Canadian producers an edge in the export hay market.
Van Genderen believes it may be partly related to the northern climate that produces a sweeter, more palatable hay. He also knows the long fibre in timothy is needed to aid digestion in cattle.
Because Canadian exporters rarely deal directly with the producer, it’s difficult for them to know what draws Japanese producers back to Canadian timothy.
“We want to find out the advantages of timothy,” he said.
