Marlin grower named 2016 Grant County Fair Hay King
Kirk Jungers, far left, congratulates Brent Finkbeiner, far right, on being named the 2016 Grant County Fair Hay King. Pictured in the back from left to right are Brent’s family; Brayden, Holly and Madison Finkbeiner.
MOSES LAKE — Countless hours of hard work and dedication was recognized Wednesday as Brent Finkbeiner, of the Marlin-area Rock Coulee Ranch, was named the 2016 Grant County Fair Hay King.
Finkbeiner was bestowed with the prestigious title by Kirk Jungers, who represents the Mid-Columbia Basin Hay Growers Association. The Grant County Fair Hay King Contest featured six different types of hays under the microscope; three were alfalfa (including dairy, export and feed store classes), grass (divided into export timothy and domestic grass), and legume/grass mix. Rock Coulee Ranch came in a top of the dairy alfalfa category and took sixth place in the export alfalfa category.
Finkbeiner said his coronation as Hay King isn’t necessarily going to affect his business, but the designation is more about the validation of his ranch's dedication to its craft.
“Honestly our business probably isn’t going to change a lot. We have had the same hay buyer for the last 10, 11 years and so we are going to maintain that relationship,” Finkbeiner said.
Dairy alfalfa is typically destined for high producing dairy herds and is required to have the potential to produce the highest milk output, but still provide the highest rumen function, which relates to the fermentation chamber where plant fiber is broken down into small digestible components, according to www.alltech.com. The main difference in the scoring between dairy alfalfa and export alfalfa is stem size, as export buyers usually look for large pliable stems and dairy farmers in Washington prefer small pliable stems. Export alfalfa is usually sent off for dairy herds in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
Finkbeiner said the hay season has gone relatively well for Rock Coulee Ranch and being named Hay King is an added bonus.
“First cutting was really rough. Everybody got a lot of rain on it. But second and third (cutting) so far went up really nice and quick. The weather cooperated and now were are just looking forward to the fourth (cutting),” he explained. “Prices are down and so forth. But that’s just the market and that’s how it is. It’s one of those that we can’t control the export market and the export market is sort of what sets the stage as far as dollars per ton goes.”
Grant County is the fifth-largest irrigated county in the United States and the Hay King Contest allows sponsors to educate local communities and highlight the type of farmers in the region, as well as the quality of feed in Grant County, Jungers said.
“The Columbia Basin does set the stage as far as the hay goes, especially on this side of the U.S. We have a lot of dairies, a lot of cattlemen and all these different pieces play into that,” Finkbeiner remarked. “The Columbia Basin produces a lot of hay and a lot of times it sort of goes unseen.”
Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com
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