Soap Lake farmer crowned Hay King

GRANT COUNTY — A Soap Lake farmer went home from the Grant County Fair newly crowned royalty.

Timothy Ray received the award from the Washington State University Grant-Adams Area Extension's annual Hay King competition last week.

Ray, a Soap Lake resident since 1986, was surprised by his win.

"It was a good year for hay this year," he said. "Unlike last year, we didn't have a lot of rain and I knew there was going to be a lot of entries. When I got to the tent, the tent was full. I knew I had some pretty good hay, but it's pretty steep competition out there, so I feel lucky to squeak in there this year."

Even though Ray has predominantly grown hay for almost 30 years, he has not entered the contest for 10 years, because he quit growing alfalfa for six to seven years to concentrate on grass and timothy hay.

Ray began growing alfalfa again in his rotation. He has never won before, he said.

"After looking at the runners-up and everything, it becomes apparent to me it was Mother Nature cooperating with me," he said. "I'd like to take the credit, but I guess some of it has to do with experience, but every one of the people who was in that contest is experienced also. You've got to know when to get up, when to bale, when to rake and when to cut. Once you know all those things, you're kind of at the mercy of Mother Nature to provide you the kind of night you need to put up a really high quality product."

Ray submitted his first cutting, which he said usually tests higher in a dairy competition.

For Ray, receiving the award is akin to receiving recognition from his peers.

"When you're a hay farmer, there's probably about 200 people in the state that even know what you're doing," he said. "It's really nice to be recognized by the 200 people who actually know what it takes to do something like this."

Ray's victory came during a visit from his sister and his niece from the San Francisco and Los Angeles, Calif., areas.

"They're both big city girls and I took them to the fair and there I was, being Hay King," he said. "It was kind of a fun night. I'm real proud of our community, how friendly everybody is and how fun it is to walk around the fair like that and be able to talk to everyone."

Ray said the Hay King title is not a competition for him; he just likes to participate.

"The judgings were so close this year it basically could have gone to any one of four people," he said. "I just guess it was my time for my 15 minutes in the light and so I basically just want to say thanks to the people that went before us, that built the irrigation systems and everything. It's great to leave it a little better for the next generation than we found it. It's a great place to live and a great place to farm."