80 tons and a bright future

My mother's pretty proud of her hayfield. My brother Kevin is equally proud of his. Mother says, "I've got the best hayfield in Idaho, and Kevin had the best in Montana." Both are bragging these days and lending support to their boasting through photos of three-four-foot tall wind rows.

Kevin did his haying the week before last. He farmed his field and then planted it by hand. His yield with the first cutting was more than three tons per acre. And, he'll have a second cutting. That's more than enough for his two horses, so he's even sold some. "Now, I'm a full-fledged farmer cuz I've sold hay," he says.

In Mother's case, she asked Harvey Lippert to farm her field last spring after Harold died. The field was part of the old Harney dairy, which they purchased in the 1960s. They had sold a portion of the flat expanse of land east of Great Northern Road but had kept the 25 acres and hayed off from it for years. It had been a long time since the area was farmed and each of the last few years that Harold put up hay, the yield was diminishing.

So, Harvey came up with a mixture of grass and oats last spring. Last summer, the Stockdale family cut the oats and split the yield with my sisters. This spring the grass hay and rich clover began its rise, and before the field was cut a few days ago, everyone was predicting a good yield. I don' t think they expected 80 tons though; that's more than three tons per acre. Harvey's happy. Mother's thrilled. Barbara and Laurie have more than enough hay for their 13 Arabians.

Today, the huge stack of more than 2,000 bales will quickly disappear as the Bouse boys load it and haul part of it to Colburn. Eventually, Harvey will take his share, and the field will be empty.

We really don't know for how long. We also don't know if this will be the last hay crop the family takes from the field, which is being purchased by Litehouse Inc. for its new corporate headquarters. It's possible that the salad-dressing folks may not start developing the land for a while. They may even work out a deal with Mother on the hay.

For now, though, Mother is very proud of her hay crop, but she and the rest of the family are equally proud that a locally-developed business, with its fine reputation here in Sandpoint and across the United States, will eventually take her field through its next chapter.