Hay field fire sparked by drought destroys thousands of dollars worth of hay
AUTAUGA CO., AL (WSFA) - The current drought in Alabama is causing serious problems statewide, from wildfires burning thousands of acres to crops desperately needing rain.
One farm in Autagua County actually harvested a crop only to have it catch fire.
Jones Brothers Farms has three income streams: cattle, cotton, and hay.
On Wednesday, a hay field at the Jones Brothers Farms caught fire along with hundreds of hay bales, meaning the farmers saw their hard earned money burn right before their eyes in a matter of minutes.
Farmer Crawford Jones says the hay had already been bailed and it's estimated at least 300 hay bales burned in the fire, which means about $14,000 went up in smoke.
Jones says insurance should cover most of that but he actually would just rather have the hay.
"This being this late in the fall, we won't get another cutting of hay. This has been a short hay year anyways, we only got one cutting on some fields as opposed to three. That, coupled with a very dry fall has put us in a situation where we are feeding hay sooner than normal. So using the hay sooner means we are going to use more and now we will have less to use. In a normal year, we would bale about 6,000 bales of hay and we are going to fall short of that this year. We need approximately 2,500 to feed ourselves and then I typically sell that to other hay customers. That revenue stream is a large part of what we depend on, we will not have nearly the income stream from the hay sales that we normally would. Economically it's a burden," said Jones. "Not only will we not have the sales but we potentially will have to purchase more feed this year to supply what we otherwise would have supplied ourselves. It's my customers I'm also worried about."
It's still unknown what caused the fire. Jones said it's a possibility a power line sparked or someone just threw out a lit cigarette. With how dry it is right now, it really doesn't take much to start a blaze.
Jones is choosing to look on the bright side, though. He says the fire could have been much worse, catching a thousand bales on fire instead or reaching the cotton field, but they were able to stop it in time.
Jones also adds since they haven't had rain in weeks, it's made for a good harvest condition for their cotton.
"In terms of Fall harvest, we've actually embraced this weather. Cotton harvest has been fantastic in terms of our weather opportunities. Those with soybean or corn have probably embraced it. Other than having grass needs and concern for having a hay field fire, the drought has kinda helped in some places," claims Jones. "[But] We would take a rain right now no matter what, even if it meant stopping the cotton pickers for a few days. We could use the rain."
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