Even Smaller Hay Operations Can Benefit from the DewPoint Hay Steamer
Mike Noel and Nathan Shephard farm around 250 acres in beautiful Johnson Canyon near Kanab, Utah. Although they run a small hay operation compared to some, they decided to take a leap of faith and purchase a DewPoint Hay Steamer. The steamer has dramatically improved the quality of their hay, their lives, and the profitability of their farming operation.
Mike and Nathan are a testament that the steamer isn’t just for the huge, commercial hay farmer. It’s every day family-run farms and even smaller hay operations that are benefiting from the DewPoint machine all of the world. Don’t let the size of your farm keep you from learning more about how DewPoint steam technology can improve your life and increase your farm’s profit. The steamer can pay for itself on farms as small as this one.
“[The steamer] has actually allowed us to get a 4th cutting”
Kanab is extremely dry and Mike and Nathan always struggled to get natural dew. There was always a short window to bale the hay which only allowed them to bale 20-40 acres a day. It took them weeks and weeks to cut and bale their hay. Even then, they had to just bale it up dry sometimes. The Dew Simulator has allowed them to open up the baling window and get their hay cut and baled much quicker which added an extra cutting at the end of the season. Mike and Nathan can now enjoy the extra tonnage with the addition of a 4th cutting.
The Steamer is Paying Off
Mike and Nathan are really seeing benefits when it comes to the leaf retention in the hay. The DewPoint steamer allows them to reduce mechanical leaf loss during baling which has increased the weight of each bale, once again, adding tonnage that they were losing on the ground before.
The monsoon seasons are a big deal in Southern Utah and often wreak havoc on hay producers. Mike states, “Getting off the fields quicker in this area means that you avoid the monsoons…the less chance you have of getting rain-damage.”
Their Customers Love Steamed Hay
Nathan was tired and discouraged when the hay buyers would complain about how dry his hay was and how it was falling apart. That is a thing of the past now for Nathan. He states, “for the first year, people have been coming and saying, ‘this is the best hay they’ve ever had’.”
Conclusion
Mike says, “If you go in and you get a DewPoint machine, you affect every single bale of hay that comes off this ranch… The number of acres that a farmer farms, the number of people that a farmer feeds, it just goes up. It’s innovations like this that make us better… Steamed hay is better. It’s better to feed. It’s better to handle. It’s just all-around better. I just think it’s gonna be something that’s gonna go around the whole world.
Nathan states, “If you’re gonna raise hay, you gotta have a steamer.”