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Texas Agriculture Archive

March 3, 2006

Hay, hay, hay—one person
can make a difference!

By Mike Barnett
Editor

Think an individual working through the state's largest farm organization can't make a difference? Chat with Neilan Smith of Plainview and think again.

Gov. Rick Perry has made it easier for ranchers to bring in round bales of hay from out-of-state for their drought-stricken herds, and it all originated from the actions of this man who owns a custom hay baling and hauling operation in the Texas Panhandle.

Formerly a row crop farmer, Smith and his son entered the hay business several years ago, and never had a problem hauling round bales to their customers—that is, until a couple of months ago, when the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) began enforcing a 14-foot height restriction. Stacked two high, round bales on a straight deck trailer generally exceed that height limit.

"All the times I've been stopped, no one has ever mentioned the height," Smith said. "If your paperwork was in order and your truck would pass, they'd let you go."

Smith said he had been stopped, cited and forced to unload hay two times in the last two months because the hay height exceeded state law. Luckily, he was hauling close to home and it didn't cause him too much of a problem. Other truckers he has talked to haven't been so lucky.

"Because of the drought, a lot of people from out of state are hauling round bales into Texas, as well as local ranchers," said Smith, who serves on Texas Farm Bureau's (TFB) Hay and Forage Advisory Committee. "I've talked to several out-of-state truckers hauling out of Kansas, Colorado and around. They'd buy hay for back haul and haul it down to the dairies around Stephenville. One had to unload some hay and leave it across the Red River. They got to where they couldn't come into Texas without being stopped."

Smith spoke of the problem at the recent drought summit in San Antonio, sponsored by TFB and attended by farmers, ranchers and agricultural organizations from across the state. Ranchers were having enough problems finding hay, he said, without law enforcement taking action that discouraged truckers from bringing it in.

Farm Bureau took notice, and TFB President Kenneth Dierschke then wrote a letter to Gov. Rick Perry, asking for assistance. In response to that letter, the governor issued an executive order Feb. 14 that suspended the permitting requirements and legal height restriction for round hay bales—along with associated permit fees—for carriers transporting those bales to drought stricken areas.

Gov. Perry directed carriers with loads exceeding 14 feet in height to contact the Texas Department of Transportation's Motor Carrier Division to receive expedited routing. All other legal requirements, including licensing, registration, insurance and safety, remain in place. Unless otherwise extended by Gov. Perry, the waiver expires April 30.

Without the governor's action, Smith feels ranchers and dairy farmers would be in a bigger storm for hay than they are now.

"The freight cost more than wheat hay does for a full load," he said, expressing relief over the waiver. "And then you cut it in half and it just won't work for me or the ranchers."

Smith jokingly said he has been a Farm Bureau member for "a hundred years." This experience, he said, taught him just how much clout the organization has, and how it listens to its members.

"After I came home from the drought summit, I thought, it being TxDOT and the Highway Patrol, nothing would come of it," Smith said. "I found out Farm Bureau has a lot of influence when it comes to agricultural issues."