Oregon Public Broadcasting

Farmers across the Northwest are busy putting up their second cutting of hay. Much of that alfalfa and timothy is shipped to Pacific Rim countries in large containers. But as Correspondent Anna King reports, this year those containers are in short supply.

With the down economy we aren't buying a lot of electronics and goods from the Pacific Rim anymore.

So what's the connection to hay? Well, Northwest hay is shipped across the Pacific Ocean in the empty containers that were offloaded with electronics here. Korean and Japanese dairy farmers buy a lot of alfalfa and timothy hay from Northwest growers.

Those countries don't have enough farm ground to produce much hay of their own. One of the largest hay exporting companies in the United States is based in Ellensburg, Washington.

Mark Anderson is its president.

Mark Anderson: “Well ultimately what will happen is if we don't see imports, and our economy in this country improve, ultimately there will be less and less carrier capacity for us to export on and we will be paying more and more for it. So it is a huge threat.”

Anderson says hay exporters depend on cheap shipping rates, because bales are bulky even when they're compacted.