A new organization hopes to pursue overseas markets for hay.
The Ontario Forage Council has formed the Ontario Forage and Hay Cooperative to explore potential offshore sales.
Co-op chair Fritz Trauttmansdorff says hay has long been regarded as a poor cousin to cash crops like corn and soybeans.
He says new, cheaper on-farm hay drying technologies are making it feasible for Ontario farmers to include hay as a cash crop.
"Logistics are changing in our favour so that gives us an opening to put hay as a sustainable cash crop into our corn, beans and wheat rotation and it's good for our soils and hopefully for our pocketbooks," said Trauttmansdorff in an interview after his presentation at the Profitable Pastures Conference in Elmwood.
The hay cooperative plans to create a central compacting facility for hay dried on farm.
They're also about to embark on a feasibility study, after which they'll create a business plan then aggressively pursue world markets.
Trauttmansdorff notes China imports three billion dollars worth of hay annually.
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Trauttmansdorff says new, cheaper on-farm hay drying technologies are making it feasible for Ontario farmers to include hay as a cash crop.
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