By LORI COPE | East Texas Edition

May 18, 2006 - Drought has played its hand in the game of hay production, yet a win can still be claimed for producers who have sold most, or all, of their livestock.

Seasonal growth of pasture grasses give opportunity for the forage to be harvested mechanically, instead of by grazing animals. Even if the pasture owner does not have hay harvesting and baling equipment, income can be generated when the grass is sold.

The grass owner can consider leasing the pasture, which often ranges from $10 to $20 per acre, noted Dr. Larry Redmon, state Extension forage specialist based in College Station. “But importantly, the landowner should get a written agreement that says the leasee will do a soil test and fertilize based on the soil test results.

“When they harvest (the hay), they are taking the nutrients from that field down the road,” Redmon said. “If the pasture were being grazed, the nutrients would be recycled back into the field.”

Redmon explained that the landowner has the most to lose in the situation where the land’s value can be affected. Without an agreement that specifies the replacement of nutrients, the leasee can “rape that place for two to five years and degrade the land’s value.”

The specialist pointed out that if one person does not want to sign a lease with the soil test and fertilization specifications, “there will be someone along soon” that will.

When it comes to setting the lease price, Redmon pointed out the person, or leasee, doing the baling has the “lion’s share” of the expenses, so the lease price should reflect this. He pointed out, too, that the landowner is “already getting the ag (tax) exemption off the land.”

Of course, negotiated agreements could include the landowner being in charge of soil testing and fertilizing, and the lease price would reflect this.

Redmon generalized a “normal fee” for an agreement where the leasee is responsible for testing/fertilizing is $20 per acre, or $5 per round bale. He explained grasses usually yield two tons of harvest per acre, or four round bales per acre. 

From the leasee’s point of view, an agreement of $20 per acre, or $5 per round bale, leaves room for some profit, depending where and when the hay is sold. 

Currently, in East and Central Texas, a field’s first-cutting hay (usually, mostly cool-season ryegrass) is selling for $30 to $40 a roll. Coastal bermuda hay is selling for $45 to $60 per roll, according to the latest Texas Hay Report. In South Texas, severe drought conditions have round bales priced at $50 to $80 per roll.