Lee County Agent Holds Third Annual Equipment Demonstration

By Jim Langcuster

	Auburn, June 3, 2002 --- For U.S. cattle producers, surviving in a global farming 
economy will depend on their success in keeping abreast of the latest advances in labor saving 
technology.  
	“Our producers just no longer can compete with Brazil and Argentina from the standpoint 
of cheap labor,” says Smokey Spears, Lee County Extension agent.  “So it all boils down to 
technology: Either our producers compensate for this disadvantage with labor-saving technology, 
or they’ll find themselves in a lot of trouble.”
	With this in mind, Spears organized the third annual Hay Cutting and Forage 
Demonstration to highlight the latest advances in hay cutting and baling technology.  Roughly, 
130 producers from Lee and the adjoining counties of Chambers, Russell and Macon attended 
this year’s demonstration, held Friday, May 31, at the Lawler Angus Farm on Highway 51 South 
near Beauregard. 
The demonstration featured the newest rake systems, cutters, balers and aerators.  In 
addition, three Extension experts were on hand to update producers on the latest advances in 
pastureland weed control and the current cattle marketing trends. They included Dr. John 
Everest, Extension weed scientist, Dr. Walter Prevatt, Extension livestock economist, and Dr. 
Darrell Rankins, Extension animal scientist. 
	As the costs of producing and harvesting good quality hay continue to increase, Spears 
says, farmers will increasingly look to advances in hay baling and cutting technology to help 
reduce these costs – a fact he’s witnessed personally during his tenure as an Extension livestock 
agent. 
	“When I started 25 years ago as an agent in Crenshaw County, producers were still using 
square bales instead of the round bales you commonly see on pasturelands today,” Spears 
recalls.  “But these square bales were killing farmers from the standpoint of labor, because it cost 
so much to pay workers to get them out of the field and into the barn loft.”
	The round bales, made possible by advances in balers more than a quarter century ago, 
increased the speed ease with which hay could be baled and stored and saved them thousands 
of dollars in labor costs, he adds.
	“Without this labor-saving technology, a lot of growers probably would be out of the 
business by now,” Spears says.
	That, he believes, is why it is so important for producers to keep abreast of this 
technology year after year.
	“The hay baling and cutting business is a lot like the car business in this respect, because 
you get a new line of equipment and new innovations year after year,” Spears says.  “Every year 
we get new lines of equipment that offer producers something better, whether it’s higher baling 
rates or hay cutters with new and improved features.”
	One thing is for sure, Spears says, cutting and harvesting hay is a lot easier today than it 
was a few decades ago.  
	“You don’t even have to get out of your air-conditioned cab to adjust a belt or clear 
something that’s gotten clogged up,” he says. “Now, it’s all corrected with just the push or two of a 
button.”
	Vendors and sponsors at this year’s demonstration included Wire Road Tractor and Lawn 
Center, Montgomery Equipment Company, Melson Tractor, E O & G’s Equipment Company, 
Frank Randle, Cal Whatley, Frank Cain, Piedmont Fertilizer and Lee County County ALFA 
Farmers Beef Committee.
(Source: Bobby G. “Smokey” Spears, Lee County Extension Agent, 749-3353.) 
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Jim Langcuster
Extension Communications Specialist/News and Public Affairs
(334) 844-5686