Saturday, November 3, 2012

Beware of hay cheats


The Canadian Forage and Grassland Association is warning farmers buying hay to be wary of cheats.

Some have made large downpayments, but the hay has not been delivered, the association says.

In other cases, full payment has been made but the hay failed to live up to the quality claimed.

The association outlines some precautions, such as asking for two independent references when dealing with somebody you’ve never done business with in the past, asking for a quality-analysis report, checking the hay over to see how it looks and to determine the moisture level and whether there is any mould.

Members of the Canadian Forage Grassland Association operate under a code of ethics. Its membership list is available at www.canadianfga.ca/forage-marketing/ .