TEULON, Man. – Bob Adamson runs his fingers over the flowering heads of a lush, chest-high timothy hay crop.
It’s a perfect summer day in a nearly perfect field and the export hay buyer can’t cap his enthusiasm about the potential for the forage in Manitoba.
The crop started out facing dry conditions this year, then made it through some frost. But recent rains have been good to the hay.
Adamson expects yields in this field, owned by Irwin Helwer, to reach between 2.5 and three tonnes per acre.
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He pays $75 to $125 per tonne for hay delivered to one of two compaction plants in the province, depending on how green, dry and weed-free it is. Returns could be as high as $375 per acre, before costs around $100 per acre are taken into account.
“That’s good money,” Adamson said.
He works for Transfeeder Inc., based in Olds, Alta. It’s the largest exporter of timothy in Canada, and the second largest in North America.
Last year, the company shipped about 100,000 tonnes of compacted timothy to Japan from Alberta, and about 4,000 tonnes from Manitoba.
Transfeeder is hoping for 19,000 tonnes from Manitoba this year, and more in the future as the industry expands in the province and into Saskatchewan.
New product
Timothy hay is a relatively new crop to Manitoba, with as many as 150 farmers producing it for export. Another 150 farmers grow it for seed.
With strong returns compared to cereals, “it’s amazing not everyone is rushing to do it,” said Adamson.
“Everybody’s waiting and watching: It sounds too good.”
The loss of the Crow rail transportation subsidy for grain and a dip in world grain prices make timothy both attractive and frightening as a way to diversify farm income.
“It’s hard for people to change right now because no one can afford a mistake.”
But while sending grain to the West Coast has become less lucrative for farmers on the eastern Prairies since the end of the Crow, this export pencils out, he said.
The company ships by volume, not by weight. It can fit 26.5 tonnes of hay in a 40-foot container. And the customer is willing to pay.
Russell, Man., farmer Garry Halwas was the first in Manitoba to build a compaction plant and enter a joint venture with Transfeeder.
Helwer, Doug Chorney, and two other partners were next, building a smaller plant in Manitoba’s Interlake last year.
Together, the owners have about 2,000 acres in hay. They’re hoping to get farmers in the region to sign up 6,000 more acres within two years to get their 20,000-tonne plant up to its annual capacity.
Special crop, special price
Adamson said producers have to be willing to make a “mental adjustment” to treat the hay like a high-valued special crop, and produce bales that can withstand the scrutiny of expert Japanese customers.
It’s probably not the crop for farmers who like to take off to fish in July, he said.
Noting a few small, puffy clouds on the horizon, Adamson said moisture is key to deciding when to harvest. Bales have to be put up at 12 percent moisture or less.
“I hope we’re in for this kind of weather for awhile,” he said. “We’ll just have a heyday, pardon the pun.”
