Tony Garza tidies up a stack of hay bales. (Photo by Wes Ferguson)
by WES FERGUSON
Patrick Vallejo has been providing hay bales to Budafest for more than 20 years. But his hay will be a little different when the annual event kicks off this weekend.
With the drought scorching the hay crop in Texas, Vallejo has been importing bales from as far away as Michigan, Canada and the East Coast.
“When people go to Budafest, they’re going to go ‘hmmm,’” Vallejo said. “They’ll be able to tell a difference.”
For one thing, the bales are bigger than most Texans are used to seeing. Also, they’re green rather than yellow or brown.
“It’s a darker grass, and it looks like it got wet, but it hasn’t,” he said.
Around 200 square bales are used as bleachers at the music stage, seats near the food vendors and other places to take a load off at the downtown holiday event. Budafest organizer Eileen Conley said the unusual hay won’t be the only new thing at the 32nd annual event.
“The parade that we have Saturday is going to be bigger and better than anything we’ve ever had before. We have some really unique people that are going to be in it,” she said. “Between the carnival, the 125 vendors and the food, there’s actually quite a bit going on. Since the street is closed, people can walk everywhere very safely.”
Budafest goes from 10 a.m. to dusk Saturday and Sunday in downtown Buda, with the parade scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday. Santa and Mrs. Claus will also be on hand to meet with children.
There is no entry fee. All proceeds benefit local charities.
Vallejo said he’s been buying hay from anywhere he can, from North Dakota to Florida and points in between.
“I’ve done this practically all my adult life, and this is the worst I’ve seen it. It’s scarce,” he said. “It’s been a very, very interesting summer, and it’s going to be an interesting winter for us in the hay business. Everybody’s struggling.”
In the summer months, he said he usually gets a load of 3,000 to 4,000 square bales a week from his main producer in South Texas. This summer, though, he got only 420 bales a week from him. The price has also nearly doubled since last year, when hay was plentiful and he was paying $7.50 to $8 a bale, he added.
“It’s just been one of them years,” he said.
Central Texas growers produce much of their hay from coastal bermuda grass, but Vallejo said the hay he’s been importing is made from timothy grass or a timothy alfalfa mix.
“Central Texas people think bermuda is king, but up north they think our bermuda is to feed the goats,” he said. “They think there’s no quality to this hay.”
Vallejo said he’s just happy he can still provide the hay to Budafest.
“Thank God that we’re going to be able to supply them,” he said. “That’s the main thing, that everybody’s happy.”
