Marketing Standards for Southern California Grass Export Hay

Grass hay exports are an important sector of the agriculture of the irrigated Sonoran Desert. These grass hays are exported to the Orient from West Coast ports. Bermudagrass, kleingrass, and sudangrass are the grass hay crops that are exported. The grading standards for these grass hay exports are quite variable and very subjective. Some of the primary determinants of export hay grades are color, weediness, stem size, texture, plant maturity, and rerake. These visual attributes of hay grades are all subjective. Other than NO3 determinations, which are required for sudangrass hay transactions, the present grass hay grading standards do not require any chemical assessment of hay quality. To further cloud the issue, the final country of destination may have its own set of standards. Different hay trading companies from the same country may have different hay grading standards. Different geographical areas of the same country may also have differing hay preferences. The lack of a defined, uniform grass hay standard in California, makes the production of consistent export quality hay by California growers quite difficult.