June 2008

The Willamette Valley is just about to enter into full-blown grass seed harvesting. This year, initial cutting activity has been delayed due the extended cool weather. Therefore, as of this report, very few fields have been windrowed, although the weekend’s hot weather should now speed up the process. So far, some of the earlier maturing tall fescues, as well as some annual ryegrass fields have been the only crops cut.

Overall, the seed crops look, and we are expecting no less than average yields. Regarding acreage, many of you already know that clover acres are in short supply. Perennial ryegrass acres are down too, although carryover is significant. Annual ryegrass acres about normal. Tall fescue acres are up and orchardgrass acres are about the same.

While the domestic market struggled this spring, export sales have been excellent and expected to continue to be strong for this next crop year. So what will all this mean on the price side of things? When all this is coupled with the above with strong input costs and continued alternative crop options for Willamette growers, it just might mean that the normal pricing models - basic supply and demand pricing may not hold true.

The folks in Texas recently released their annual ryegrass report for the 2007-08 growing season. We were once again very pleased with the results. As you can see from the table below, Smith Seed’s newest varieties, Attain, Big Boss, Verdure and Ed continue to out-yield many other very good varieties. If you are looking to add a proprietary annual into your program, these would be excellent choices. More data from throughout the country is available at SmithSeed.com.