Seasonal hay auction attempts to save cash

Friday, April 25, 2008

Piles of 40-pound hay bales, 800-pound round bales and 1,000-pound rectangular bales line the walls filling the air inside the Southern Maryland Regional Farmers Market on U.S. 301 with their grassy tang. The building is in something of a transition on Saturday, April 19, the last day of the seasonal hay auction, with the plant auction ready to start Wednesday.

A few minutes before the auction starts — promptly at noon — Russell Burch, secretary and treasurer of the market’s board of directors, reflects on the hay season just past.

‘‘It was a pretty good season,” he says. ‘‘[The 2007 drought] kept prices higher, between $5 and $7 [for a 40-pound bale].”

The main effect of the drought appears to have been a shortage of large round bales, with farmers apparently holding back for better prices toward the end of the season.

The hay buyers gathered for the last sale of the season are seemingly an eclectic bunch, arriving in vehicles among which the sole similarity is that they will transport some hay; from beat up pickups to pristine heavy-duty, dual-tire gooseneck trailer rigs.

Burch, of White Plains, says the variety is deceiving.

‘‘These are mostly all horse people,” he says, glancing around at the 75 or so bidders gathered. ‘‘There’s a few with cattle, and a few with goats, but mostly it’s homeowners with anywhere from one to a dozen horses.”

A brief , informal survey confirms it, with most of the folks waiting looking for 20 to 40 bales to feed their horses at a low price.

As the auction begins, the transitional aspect of the season becomes apparent. Before the main event, the auction of hundreds of bales of hay begins, regional farmers market board President Tom Clements gives a brief speech announcing the beginning of the plant auction April 23. He reminds the gathered hay buyers that the auctions serve as a main market for Southern Maryland farmers struggling to find their way in a changing market after the tobacco buyout, and that ‘‘Wal-Mart’s getting $9 for plants like these. You don’t need to pay retail,” he tells the crowd. ‘‘The best bargains are right here.”

To prove his point the auction begins with 20 or so flower plants. Auctioneer J.T. Hinkle, a retired Charles County sheriff’s officer, starts the plants at $2, but apparently there is some pent-up demand. Three ladies bid the plants up to $4 quickly, threatening Clements’ ‘‘cheap plants” spiel. He quickly steps in with an unorthodox move for more formal auctions, allowing the three bidders to pay for the plants they want at $4 apiece.

Such interventions and buyer-friendly tactics are not unusual at the farmers market, Hinkle said. ‘‘I try to make sure everyone has fun,” Hinkle says. ‘‘If there’s fun, it makes the prices a little better.”

Hinkle is a volunteer, like all the folks who run the market.

‘‘It’s just something I really enjoy doing,” said Hinkle, who is also involved in agriculture by raising a sheep flock.

Burch says the market runs auctions year-round, with plants holding down the auction block until produce starts coming in, then chrysanthemums and pumpkins overlapping produce until the hay season starts back up again in November.

The auction process is simple. Buyers register and get assigned a bidding number. They then bid on what they want, and pay at the window when the paperwork is complete, usually about 10 to 20 minutes. The loose rules of the auction allow bidders to take what they want from lots, allowing the lower bidders to come in behind and select items at the bid price if they choose.

‘‘We try to make sure everyone is happy,” Hinkle said.”