Rhys Trethowan spent enough time feeding cattle in his feedlot job to learn a thing or two about hay.
So four years ago, when the opportunity to fill a hay baling void arose in the Southern Riverina, he and his wife Courtney shifted gears and began a hay contracting business, Trethowan Ag.
“I had the contacts in the livestock industry, so I figured I’d get in and make a go of it,” the father of four and Rand local said.
This time of year, is like three-quarter-time of the grand final for hay makers; what will spring bring? How will the season finish? What will Mother Nature do to the yield and the quality of the Southern Riverina’s hay crops?
“I don’t really like this time of year. I just want to get in and start, I don’t like waiting,” Rhys said.
Rhys is by no means twiddling his thumbs as he needs to service two Krone high-density eight-stringers, a 40ft Macdon windrower, two Berrima hay rakes and a Horsch Cultro stubble cutter.
He is keen to see this year’s good-looking crops be baled so he can put some distance between himself and the 2022 season.
“Last year the hay market was very quiet due to the wet season, and a lot of the straw wasn’t great quality because the crop had fallen over.
“But this year, things are looking really good. I would guess that even if the season shut off now, we could sneak through on the moisture we’ve got and it will be an average to above-average year for hay.”
While talk of El Nino has not become a reality in Rhys’s patch, he thinks people will be looking to bale a lot of hay to build up hay stocks.
On average, Rhys bales 50:50 hay and straw – starting at Hillston in September cutting a vetch crop then coming back to the Rand district where vetch and oaten hay are made, wheat straw is baled and canola crops are cut.
“Vetch is becoming a bigger part of cropping operations, if the price is right, crop farmers will use it. It’s part of their integrated weed management.”
Growing up on a farm and working in agriculture all his life has meant Rhys brings more to the table than machinery and is able to work with clients to sell their hay.
“When you’re baling you see the different conditions and understand the quality so when people are chasing a certain product, we can join the dots and put them in touch with each other.
“We have ongoing clients we supply with hay in the stud stock game. They need high quality balanced feed stuff which we source for them.
“We also supply straw for mushroom farms, which is done at the very end of the season.”
In the lead up to the peak season Rhys has his balers serviced by Grower Services Echuca, who he believes do a great job of keeping his machines working.
And while Rhys has done his fair share of repairs and maintenance on the machines, he’s more than happy to defer to the baler mechanics when it comes to the big jobs.
“It takes a unique person to be able to do that job!”