MOSES LAKE - Sid Sackman, of Moses Lake, submitted the most nutritious bale of alfalfa and was crowned Hay King for the 2014 Grant County Fair.

Sackman and his wife Debbie own Sideb Farms, and their alfalfa beat three other dairy alfalfa competitors and eight export alfalfa entries to take home the Hay King title.

Competition is open to all local hay farmers, Superintendent Kirk Jungers said. Competitors have their choice of dairy alfalfa, export alfalfa or feed store alfalfa categories.

Judges are looking for something different in each category, Jungers said. Feed store alfalfa is judged entirely on appearance. "You want it green, you don't want it yellow and bleached out," Sackman said.

But when it comes to dairy hay, the judges pull a sample and test it for nutrients. "Nutrient value is a big deal on this," Sackman said. That's because it's a big deal to dairy farmers. Farmers can judge the quality of the hay they buy by the quantity of milk produced, Sackman said.

Growing hay is like any farm operation - there are good years and there are bad years, and sometimes good or bad is out of the farmer's hands. "What you have control over is variety selection, cutting dates, cutting intervals, managing fertilizer and water," Sackman said.

"And then, you get to the real deal, Mother Nature," Sackman said. Mother Nature can create havoc, by providing rain at the wrong time, among other weather pitfalls.

In 2013 Mother Nature conjured up a rainstorm at exactly the worst time, but in 2014 her timing was impeccable. "Best first cutting in a long time," Jungers said.

The alfalfa growing season is very long in Grant County, Sackman said, extending from May to October. Growers can harvest alfalfa four times in a good year, he said.

The hay and grasses that were submitted for the contest will be donated to victims of the Carlton Complex fire in Okanogan County, Jungers said. He set the goal of getting enough hay to fill a truck, he said, and growers have responded, even farmers who didn't enter the contest. "I'm hoping to have 25 tons (for donation)," he said.