2020 - Volume #44, Issue #3, Page #10
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They’ve Got Hay Business Covered
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“As the export business has grown, farms have gotten bigger, but with crop rotations you can’t have hay barns everywhere,” says Tim Ravet, Tarp-it. “A lot of our customers have expanded as the industry did, and we have grown with them. Some produce hay here in Washington State and as far away as New Mexico.”
While it is big business, it’s not an easy one to get into, explains Ravet. How a stack gets covered varies also, depending on the customer. Prices charged can range from $2 to $3 per ton up to $10 per ton, depending on whether the hay is for the grower’s use, for sale to a dairy or feedlot, or for export.
“Sometimes we cover just the top and other times we cover the entire stack,” says Ravet. “We often lay bottoms out for them to stack on, and then we wrap the stack up completely.”
Ravet likens it to a diaper, but one to hold the moisture out, rather than hold it in.
Wind is a challenge in many areas. Covering a stack in a strong wind is not easy. So having experienced crews is very important to tarping companies.
For an introduction to hay stack tarping, ITC Services offers a dozen how-to videos. They cover everything from stacking suggestions to installation and tie-down, removal, folding, and storage.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tarp-it Inc., 3000 Wilson Creek Rd., Ellensburg, Wash. 98926 (ph (ph 509 962-4664; www.tarp-it.org); or ITC Services, Inc., 4172 N. Frontage Road E., Moses Lake, Wash. 98837 (ph 509 766-7024; www.inlandtarpandcover.com).
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