Hay King hopefuls enter contest
Matthew Weaver/Columbia Basin HeraldJohn Kugler watches as a forklift unloads an entry for the Hay King contest Saturday morning at the Grant County Fairgrounds.
Sandmann wins crown
MOSES LAKE — Manning the Hay King tent while accepting entries is an opportunity for John and Anna Kugler to do some father-daughter bonding.
Saturday morning, they were out on the Grant County Fairgrounds, accepting entries for the annual Hay King contest.
"She keeps me straight," John Kugler said of his daughter, who volunteers to help out. "She's pretty sharp, methodical and careful."
Anna Kugler enjoys working with her father and how he explains things when she asks questions.
"I like to see the farmers, see how they look at each other's hay and talk about it," she said with a chuckle.
"It is wonderful to have her here," John Kugler said.
On Tuesday, John Kugler, who is the educator for the Washington State University Grant-Adams Area Extension and working in conjunction with the Mid-Columbia Basin Hay Growers, announced that Moses Lake farmer Chuck Sandmann would receive the title of Hay King this year.
"It's just a good contest between all the neighbors, and it's good for our industry," Sandmann said as he dropped off his bale entries Saturday morning, several of which would be for the export division, and several of which would be for the domestic division. Winning gets a farmer's name out where prospective buyers can see it, Sandmann said, before he
received word that he would be the winner. He's won the award upon several other occasions.
Upon receiving word of his victory, Sandmann said it was unexpected, but he was glad to win.
"I'm happy," he said. "It's a pretty tough contest to win."
"Probably the primary thing is to have it completely weed-free, mold-free, dust-free," John Kugler said. "Free of dead stems. Just have it as pretty as they can."
The test for nutritional quality is very important, but appearance can be weighted just as high.
"It's especially important with the export hay, because the aesthetic qualities are so much more important than the nutritional qualities" in that division, John Kugler said. In the domestic division, nutrition counts more.
The contest and the award highlight the importance of the hay industry to the Basin, and the local and state economy, he continued. His exhibit will include educational posters and try to bridge the gap between the agricultural and urban communities, he said.
"Farmers are competing with each other to produce the best hay and get the best price, and attract the buyers," he said. "This contest is one way to do that, because those who are hay people can get the publicity, and buyers come to their door."
John Kugler most looks forward to calling the Hay King and asking him to come in for a photograph. The response he receives in making such a call can depend, he added.
"Sometimes it is disbelief," he said, pausing for a moment. "Well, that's probably the biggest response. 'Really?' But I've notice that when some of the Hay Kings come in they're proud of their work. They put a lot of effort into producing a quality product, and this kind of recognition really makes them feel good. It's their living and livelihood — they like to feel good about what they do."
In the past, heirs to the Hay King crown would turn in entries on the Monday before the fair, but John Kugler extended and moved that deadline to Saturday.
"The reasoning was because Monday, it's a madhouse," he explained. "And there's all the vendors parked by the building, it was almost impossible to get the hay in with a forklift. That was one reason, so it was easier to have access to get the hay in here."
The new deadline also provided the opportunity to get the hay sampled and tested earlier, and get the results one day sooner, so John Kugler knows the winner the first day of the fair.
The number of entries the contest draws differs each year, he added, noting it depends on how busy the farmers are.
"They might have hay they want to bring in, but they're too busy to get in," he said. "That's one reason why we moved it to Saturday and extended the hours, so they should have plenty of time to get here."
This year, John Kugler said, there were 17 entries, an above average number. Early Saturday morning, he was not expecting a large number of contestants, due to the rain early in the season, which impacted the first cutting.
"Essentially all the first cutting in the Basin got rained on," he said. "There was a little bit that didn't get rained on. Then, quite a bit of the second cutting got rained on, and many of the growers are reluctant to bring hay in, unless they think have a pretty good chance of placing near the top."
Since the middle of second cutting, however, the weather had improved, so he was expecting some good second and even third cutting entries.
"The first cutting was not very good," Sandmann agreed. "But I did beat Mother Nature a little bit, so I brought in what I beat Mother Nature with."
Royal City's Anne Wieldraayer and daughters Cara, 15, and Erin, 11, were dropping off their entry on behalf of their husband and father.
"I think he's entered almost every year, for the last several years, right?" Anne asked her daughters. "He wants to promote hay."
"He wants to win," Cara and Erin said.
"I think my spouse gets excited, he always wants to come up and read it and do it," Anne said, noting promotion of Grant County hay is important for those participating in the contest. "And I think, for some people, if they see that you were the Hay King or whatever, maybe that helps your sales somewhat. They say, 'Oh, that's good hay, that's winning a contest, they must know what they're doing.' And I think it's just something fun for the farmers to be able to participate in."
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