Recent rains are bringing some optimism to southwest Nebraska hay producers as another growing season begins across the Republican Valley.
Near Wilsonville, Austin Rice of SR Farms says timely moisture over the past few weeks has helped kick-start dryland alfalfa after one of the driest winters he can remember.
“We’re happy to get what we can get and hoping this kind of primes the pump for some more,” Rice said.
SR Farms is a family-owned alfalfa operation with roots in Furnas County agriculture dating back more than 150 years. The farm focuses almost entirely on forage production, raising between 1,600 and 2,000 acres of alfalfa each year and shipping hay to customers across 28 states.
The operation grew out of the family’s cattle feeding background, something Rice says still shapes how they market hay today.
“We know the nutritional needs of all types of cattle, horses and goats,” Rice said. “That’s benefited us in our alfalfa business.”
Like many Nebraska producers, the spring workload is a balancing act of irrigation, fieldwork, trucking and preparing for first cutting. Thanks to the mild winter, crews were able to stay active much longer than usual.
“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,” Rice said.
That extra work helped lighten the spring workload, but dry conditions remain top of mind. Irrigators in the Republican Valley are already monitoring water use closely after heavy early-season demand last year.
Still, Rice says there is optimism heading into the summer as hay demand continues to strengthen following wildfire losses and drought concerns across parts of the Plains.
“We watched hay prices tank pretty fast last year,” Rice said. “This spring it’s almost done the same thing in reverse.”
Along with growing alfalfa, SR Farms also handles transportation through its own trucking company, delivering hay to livestock producers as far away as Ohio and Maine.
For now, the focus is on making the most of recent rains and preparing for another busy cutting season in southwest Nebraska.
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