Dew simulator introduced at hay convention

KENNEWICK — It’s a long way from Hudson, Wisconsin to the Tri-Cities.

But that didn’t stop John Van Camp, business development lead with Hudson-based Harvest Tec, from crossing the country to attend the Northwest Hay Expo in Kennewick on Jan. 19-20 to show off one of his company’s latest products — its Model 720 Dew Simulator.

“It’s a very important market for us,” Van Camp said of Eastern Washington. “We’ve been here through the years with our different products.”

The dew simulator is Harvest Tec’s entry into the hay steaming market. The ungainly device, which is pulled by a tractor, contains a diesel-fired, pressure boiler that heats water to 240 degrees Fahrenheit and then sprays it out in a very fine mist through 65 rolling prongs or tines — 85 for wider rows — directly into windrows of mown hay.

The idea is to simulate the dew that often falls on freshly mown hay, giving a farmer more control over when hay can be bailed and improving the appearance and quality of the baled hay.

“We are injecting the moisture at the point into the bottom of the windrow,” Van Camp said. “We are not spraying water all over the place. We’re trying to conserve as much water as we can.”

Like much farm equipment, the dew simulator can be controlled electronically from a cab-mounted control box that allows for a precise application of steam to account for conditions like humidity and wind speed.

“It’s a very simple machine to operate, and to run,” he said. “You can either bail right behind it or you can wait from seconds to minutes, depending on what your weather conditions are. So we’re trying to give that flexibility to the baler.”

While steaming hay to simulate dewfall doesn’t necessarily improve its nutritional quality, Van Camp said it does improve leaf retention and bales of steamed hay look better and greener.

“We’re just adding water. We’re not adding any type of nutrients,” he said. “The dew simulator is for arid climates, where we’re re-moisturizing that windrow for those that need it. We can extend the balling window and make it easier for the grower.”

And better looking hay can also fetch higher prices, he noted.

Harvest Tec also makes a line of sensors for hay balers, automatic control systems, dye marketing systems for hay bales, and its Green-Gard hay bale preservative, Van Camp said, adding the company is also working on a system that would add radio frequency identification —or RFID — tags to hay bales as a way of being able to track hay even as it makes its way across the world.

“As the bales are produced, the tag would automatically get connected to the twine,” he said. “It will tell you where the bale was made, the time of day and the weather conditions. It will tell you everything you need to know.”

And that makes it possible for happy hay buyers to know exactly where their hay comes from and become repeat customers.

“If the quality was where they wanted, they would see that right on the hay,” Van Camp said.