TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- A new lease for baling hay on Tinker Air Force Base will save the Air Force about $10,000 annually — and the new lessee, conveniently, already works on base.
Natural Resources Manager John Krupovage said Tim Case, a tool and die machinist with the 553rd Commodities Maintenance Squadron, was awarded a five-year lease to cut and bale 110 acres of hay on the south and east sides of the installation.
Bids were recently solicited due to revocation of the previous lease for failure to perform, Krupovage said.
“It’s a way for us to maintain the land at a far cheaper cost than if we had to mow,” Krupovage said
In lieu of paying someone to mow the area, the land is leased for haying purposes. The lessee pays the government an annual fee and can keep the hay or sell it and keep the profit.
Case began farming about eight years ago, and began baling projects such as the Tinker AFB lease to save money on hay and to supplement his income.