UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Washington, D. C. 



Contribution from the 

 Bureau of Markets and Crop Estimates 



H. C. TAYLOR, Chief 



■swy^w'fc. 



October 18, 1921 



MARKETING HAY AT COUNTRY POINTS. 



By H. B. McCltjee, Specialist in Marketing Hay, and G. A. Collier, Investigator 



in Marketing Hay. 



CONTENTS. 



Effect of present methods of prepa- 

 ration 



Importance of time of cutting 



Improper curing 



Faulty methods of baling 



Production of undesirable mix- 

 tures 



Page. 



2 

 2 

 3 

 5 



Page. 



Marketing hay at country points 9 



Function of country shipper 9 



Competition between shippers 10 



General practices 11 



Cost of marketing hay by producer- 20 

 Methods of handling hay at ship- 

 ping point 21 



Ever since hay has been marketed extensively the hay trade has 

 constantly wrestled with the vexing problem of what to do with low- 

 grade hay— that is, hay that has been improperly prepared or is of a 

 mixture that causes it to be regarded as of a low grade. Such hay is 

 hard to dispose of. Indeed, so serious has this perplexing problem 

 become that at present the only solution has seemed to lie in keeping 

 this kind of hay entirely off the market. 



Since this trouble has been in existence for years, it might be sup- 

 posed the producer had made an effort to correct a practice which 

 is causing him ,a loss of thousands of dollars annually. That he has 

 not done so is due to two important facts: (1) The producer and the 

 dealers do not as yet agree as to what constitutes quality in hay, and 

 (2) many producers lack vital market information regarding the 

 preparation of hay for terminal and consuming markets. 



A recent and comprehensive survey of the important hay markets 

 of the United States has revealed the rather striking fact that a 

 large percentage of our present marketing difficulties originates on 

 the farm, that a thorough knowledge of market requirements on the 

 part of the producer would result in less low-grade hay, and that this 

 would in turn solve in part at least the ever-present problem of 

 what to do with low-grade hay. The purpose of this bulletin is to 



53222° — 21— Bull. 977—1 



