NAPI hay a hit with reservation ranchers

More than 90 trucks lined Navajo Route 15 Feb. 4, waiting for up to three hours to buy low-cost hay from the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry.

NAPI had trucked in about 2,300 bales of hay, and was selling three-wire bales for $7 each, according to Vince Cowboy, alfalfa crop manager for NAPI.

With much of the area's livestock unable to graze because of heavy snow accumulations, the hay was in high demand and customers were limited to buying 20 bales at a time.

The bales filled six semi-trailers, which were parked about a half-mile west of the fairgrounds in Dilkon, where the Southwest Navajo Nation Fair is held each year.

"This is a good price," said Tommy Nez, 67, of Indian Wells, Ariz. He'd been waiting since 6:30 a.m., parked at the nearby Basha's supermarket, and didn't get his hay until nearly 10 a.m.

During the winter, he said, hay could cost him as much as $11 a bale, while others said they pay even more than that.

Nez said he has 30 head of cattle and 19 horses to feed.

"When (NAPI) came, they told us to come over here" because the grocery store parking lot couldn't accommodate the number of people waiting in line, he said.

Nez added that he's been trying to get in on the NAPI hay sales in Dilkon and Chinle for the past couple of weeks, and this was the first time he was able to buy some before it ran out.

Alvita Johnson, 27, of Dilkon, was near the front of the line as the sale opened around 9 a.m. Workers atop the 20-foot high stacks bucked the big bales into her pickup, where they landed with a booming metal thud.

"We went through our last bale this morning," she said, adding that she planned to buy 16 bales of hay to feed her goats, rabbits and one horse.

Cowboy said demand for the hay has been rising. NAPI started by trucking in one flatbed trailer loaded with hay, but that has grown to six semi-trailers carrying 384 bales each.

He said NAPI now sells up to 24 semi-trailer loads a week of premium cut hay, and plans to offer similar sales in Tuba City, Chinle, Crownpoint, Kayenta and maybe even Ramah. The on-location sales began in October and will continue until the hay runs out, he said.

Cowboy attributed the brisk demand less to the weather and more because high gas prices make it expensive for livestock owners to drive to a border town to buy hay.

He may be too modest - many Navajo ranchers say NAPI has built a reputation for offering clean, high quality hay at reasonable prices. Bringing it to the buyers just makes it an even better deal.

At the rate it's selling, the 2009 hay crop will be sold out by next month, Cowboy predicted. The first cut of the new season likely won't be made until late May or early June, he said.

Cowboy added that he calls chapters ahead of time to let them know when the trucks will arrive so they can get the word out to everyone.

"We're trying to bring everything out to our customers," he said.