Fires & Drought: Why Alfalfa Demand Is Surging Across the Midwest

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:02][music] [music] >> Friday's in the field brought to you by FNB of the Great Bend Small Bank. We are here in Wilsonville with Austin Rice and Austin we've got some gray clouds, even a few raindrops and that's something [music] you haven't seen a lot of until just recently, right?

[00:00:28]>> Yeah, very true. We hardly got any snow this winter. Um, probably the driest winter I can remember. And so yeah, up until about the last month, uh, that's when we first got this about probably an inch and a half to two inches here. Some places have got a little more.

[00:00:41]Um, and so yeah, that's the first bit of moisture that's really got any of this, uh, dry land, um, acres a little bit of moisture and so that's kind of the dry land stuff's just starting out. The irrigated is struggling so, um, it's been a little bit of a struggle. Happy to get what we can get and hoping this kind of primes the pump for some more so.

[00:00:59]>> right outside your hay shed. You were telling me over the winter, I mean it's so dry and so mild, you really didn't even have to push any snow.

[00:01:05]>> No, we didn't. We didn't didn't have to get the loaders out to push any snow. We were actually able to throw a manure out for the first time. Uh, do that all winter long. We were able to do field work, rip and disc and stuff that normally there'd be a frost line and you'd be prevented to do that and this year we were able to do it all. So it helped our spring workload, but it's not what you want when you're trying to go forward for the next growing cycle so.

[00:01:27]>> Yeah, absolutely. And where we are, we remember gosh, well, it's about four years ago, there were a bunch of fires in your area, Arapaho, Cambridge. Yes.

[00:01:36]And and 2019 and certainly we saw the floods. So we we've seen bad weather, but then this year, uh, the fires, did that kind of tug at your heartstrings to say, gosh, what can what can we do to help some of those folks?

[00:01:47]>> Absolutely, you know, it has been it has been difficult to watch and you know, early this year we had there were fires that broke out again in like the Ashland, Kansas area. And we were part of lucky enough to be a part of some people that took hay down there. And so there were quite a few people in Nebraska with that were able to donate uh some feed to go down there. And then 2 weeks later it turns around and we have fires break out all across the state. I mean almost a million acres burned. And And so yeah, it's hard to watch. Um I know a lot of local people around here were able to go and help whether that was donating hay or jumping a fire truck and go up there for a little while. So there's been a lot of community reaching around those guys and trying to help but it's been a struggle.

[00:02:28]And then the drought and not having a feed source and there's a lot of guys still looking for feed. I mean we're getting phone calls all the time right now. And unfortunately we know for what they're looking for we just don't have it. I mean we're almost out of hay to begin with other than the people we've already, you know, sold hay to. So >> I you know, last year the way things were setting up it looked like it was going to be a struggle. Then we picked up some timely rains. See, you don't know what the good Lord's going to bring but you sure hope that we would get some because uh we're going to need to have some good cuttings here are we?

[00:02:55]>> Absolutely. Last year was a roller coaster. I mean we we watched hay prices tank probably as fast as I've ever seen.

[00:03:02]Um and then this spring it's almost done the same thing in reverse. I mean it was pretty low all year long last year.

[00:03:09]Um and then you came into this year and it's kind of started to pick up. The demand from people needing it from the fires and people needing it in general with with uh the drought and everything has really picked it up. So but that can change. We know that can change in a heartbeat. If all of a sudden it turns out and it rains for the next 2 months it'll be back to where it was. So you never really know.

[00:03:28]>> And we should point out this is an alfalfa operation. This is this is kind of your bread and butter. This is what you guys focus on now on is is is hay.

[00:03:34]>> Yep, it is. That's we do generally between 1,600 and 2,000 acres of alfalfa every year. We do uh try to get at least four cuttings maybe four and a half on some of them to five. So this is our bread and butter. The only time we have other crops is when we're trying to get back into hay. So you You even in in acres this year, uh we had to spend so much moisture, spin the pivot so many times. Um I know last year we were at um the middle of June and down here in the lower Republican, we had used uh almost half of our allotted water just to get the hay to start up and we're just as bad off or probably worse this year. So, but like I say, things can change, but you just got to water what you can and see what happens. So, and you mentioned >> Yeah, the Republican Valley always got challenges. So, we'll yeah, we'll see where things go, but Let's give a shout out. Who helps you on the operation here then?

[00:04:23]>> Um the operation was started by Steve, which is my dad, and Scott, and they're both still involved. And then we have um my brothers, Ryan and Spencer, they're involved. And then we also have a young man from Arapahoe, his name is Chance Hockemeyer. And so, that pretty much rounds out our crew for for most of it.

[00:04:39]We also have an over-the-road driver that delivers a lot of our hay, and his name is Charlie Earnest. And so, okay.

[00:04:44]>> Really appreciate him. He goes all over the country. Um we've taken hay from here to Ohio. We've even sold a load of hay to Maine, so he keeps him pretty busy on doing some of that. So, yep. And then uh also have our wives. To be honest, we really couldn't do what we do without them. You know, they they keep things running at home. Obviously, they they are the second income when it comes to that and our insurance and all the rest of it. So, um they are what makes us go.

[00:05:09]>> I can relate. I understand how that goes. So, yeah. So, I guess we'll see you where things go. Uh as we said, as we're recording, we've got some gray skies and some chances of rain here. So, the flexibility is hopefully some of that uh materializes.

[00:05:22]>> Yes, I hope so. I hope I hope we would just lay hay down on I think Tuesday.

[00:05:26]And so, if it gets 3 in of rain on it and it turns into black slime, I'll be okay with that because we need every drop we can get. [music] So, yeah.

[00:05:34]>> Well, good.

[00:05:35]Appreciate you joining us.

[00:05:36]>> I appreciate you.

[00:05:37]>> All right, that is our Fridays in the field right here coming to you from Wilsonville. I'm Steve White on the Rural Radio Network.

[00:05:49]>> [music] >> I