1. About 50 miles northeast of
Sacramento is one of California’s
many diversified agricultural hot
spots. Although agriculture no longer
plays a central role in Placer County’s
economy, this area is still home to
a variety of commodities – which
makes Keith Gentz’s custom-hay
operation just as plentiful as the crops
that grow there.
But it isn’t necessarily the number
of acres harvested each year that
makes Gentz and his family stand
out from the rest of his competition;
it is the niche market he has created
by owning the only round baler in a
500-mile radius and contracting with
more than just the typical hay grower.
“We started out nearly 40 years
ago with the mindset to grow and sell
Custom business adjusts to location and reaps the benefits
Progressive Forage Grower writer Cassidy Woolsey
our own hay, but we quickly found
out we could make more money doing
it for others,” Gentz says. “Today
we have multiple contracts with
orchards, organic dairies, nut growers,
cattlemen and even a special contract
with John Deere to bale California
rice straw for their testing purposes.”
Rounding up the customers
Because Gentz owns two small
square balers and one round baler, he
is often asked by orchards to cut and
bale their double-crop. Anytime trees
are pulled from the orchard, growers
will replace the trees with a secondary
crop such as safflower or sudangrass
to allow the ground to be treated for
nematodes or other pests that may
harm the new trees.
For about five to six years, Gentz
cuts and bales between the trees as
long as the machinery is able to move
through without knocking off tree
limbs. In the last two years of his
contract, he uses the round baler so
he doesn’t have to bring in the harrow
bed to pick up the bales, which
becomes difficult as the tree canopy
gets lower.
“At first I was a little skeptical
when my friend suggested that I
should get a round baler – simply
because everything is square in
California. But it really has allowed
me to do different things in my
custom operation,” Gentz says.
Not long after purchasing his
round baler, he received a call from
his local John Deere dealership
wanting to know if he would be
interested in a long-term contract
cutting and baling California rice
straw. Being one of the few who
owned a round baler in California,
this opened up a great opportunity
for Gentz. Because California rice
is the most abrasive on harvesters,
John Deere needed rice straw to send
to Illinois, where they could test
their harvesters and make necessary
improvements. And since the nature
of a round baler is to keep the length
of the stand rather than chopping
it up, a round baler is just what
they needed to properly test their
harvesters.
So for the last seven years, Gentz
has put up close to 65 bales each year
for John Deere so they can haul it to
their Illinois headquarters. He has
also been asked a few times for the use
of his round bales in commercials and
advertisements, which he says testifies
to the scarcity of round balers in that
area. However, due to the market for
small square bales in California, his
small baler remains his biggest and
most sought-after business. But the
round baler has opened him up to a
new set of customers, he says.
Strength in numbers
isn’t always the case
Putting up close to 50,000 square
bales and more than 800 round bales
each year, Gentz notes that he couldn’t
do it alone. With the help of his wife,
Lorraine, and his nephew, Mark
Dufault, they have transformed their
family dream into a successful family
business.
“I had an old friend that used to
tell me, ‘You’ll never make any money
with a custom-hay operation. All you
will end up doing is wearing out your
equipment,’” Gentz says. “It wasn’t even
a year later and I had already proven
him wrong.”
Gentz says it all started when
he became unhappy with how other
custom operators were baling his
hay. He started purchasing his own
equipment. One swather, three balers
and one harrow bed later, he found
others in the area that were also
unhappy and started requesting his
services. It wasn’t long until he found
himself in the custom-hay business.
“When I was first getting started
in the business, I had an old friend
helping me run the equipment, but he
ended up getting hurt and never fully
recovered. It was then that I asked
my wife if she would be interested in
running the baler and she said ‘Well, I
guess so,’” Gentz laughs. “But honestly,
it has worked out great. Because she
has a vested interest in this business,
she cares when something on the
tractor doesn’t sound right. She knows
that if something breaks, that is money
out of our pockets.”
So with Gentz in the swather, his
wife running the baler and his nephew
close behind with the harrow bed, they
make an effective team. Gentz says
he has toyed with the idea of hiring
temporary help, but he believes it is
better to keep the operation small and
within the family.
Although they are small in
numbers, it doesn’t seem to deter the
Keith and Lorraine Gentz take pride in the fact
that they built their successful family operation
from scratch. Photo courtesy of Keith Gentz.
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30 Progressive Forage Grower Issue 3 • March 1, 2015

2. number of people who are asking for
their business. Gentz says they have
to turn down a few people each year,
but they aren’t afraid to turn down
business in order to do it right. They
can easily cut 100 acres a day, but to
properly bale that much hay, they
realize it takes more than just one day.
“It is just the way I was raised, you
know – it’s to do it right or don’t do it at
all,” Gentz says.
Gentz takes pride in the fact that
he and his family started this business
from scratch. He says they don’t owe
anyone money, they make sure they buy
good equipment, they have good credit
and long-term customers, and they
have a list of other people that want to
do business with them when possible.
Making it work in the heat
of the drought
Gentz points out, however, that
the last 40 years of business haven’t
all been “smooth sailing.” In the
last two years, Gentz and his family
were some of the many California
residents affected by the devastating
record drought. He says most growers’
yields were down – about half of what
they had planned. And since Gentz’s
custom-hay operation is paid by the
number of bales or tons per acre, his
business also lost some critical revenue.
He says almost everyone in his
area was affected. But what really hurt
him the most was his dry-land farming
that he uses to raise hay for sale and
to feed his 80 head of beef cattle. In
a typical year, he usually gets 3 or 4
tons per acre, but during the record
drought, they only harvested 2.5 tons
per acre.
“The yields or the tons per acre
that we did receive were a Godsend,”
Gentz says. “The drought really had
an effect on a lot of people in our area.
This isn’t the first time California has
seen a bad drought, and it probably
won’t be the last. It’s just a part of the
farming business. I’ve had to learn to
adapt and change over the years.”
As for the future of Gentz’s
custom-hay operation, he plans to
add another swather to the business
this year. He knows that if he keeps
his business in multiple agricultural
sectors and provides quality work, he
can keep building his business while
staying above the competition.
Although his location may be
a huge benefit to his operation, it
is his relationship with his family,
attention to detail and willingness to
try something new that really sets his
custom business apart. FG
TOP RIGHT: Mark Dufault, Gentz’s nephew,
typically operates the harrow bed.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Because of the market in
California, square bales remain Gentz’s
biggest business. Photos courtesy of Keith Gentz.
March 1, 2015 • Issue 3 www.progressiveforage.com 31