When you think of an airport, you think of airplanes, flight attendants, security lines, maybe some unique shopping opportunities - but, hay?

2008 marked a record year for the Houston Airport System’s (HAS) newest revenue source as it harvested hundreds of acres of hay on airport property.

Visitors to both George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Ellington Airport (EFD) often see the hay in large round bales as they approach the aviation area – all by design to create the interest of bringing in extra revenue to the airports, which is a good thing during a year when airlines have cutback on capacity.

“We’re always looking for ways to better our airport and to create additional sources of revenue,” says HAS director of aviation Rick Vacar. “The thought came to me - I make hay off of my land by selling hay, just imagine how much money we can make out here with hundreds of acres of open land. We could be the Wal-Mart of the hay business!”

It started as part of an employee suggestion program with an idea to use the open land around IAH and EFD to grow and sell hay in order to generate revenue for the HAS.

Of the 10,000 acres that comprise IAH, 250 acres are presently being used to harvest hay and 50 of the 2,500 acres at EFD are being used.

A higher grade of hay – fed mainly to horses - called Tifton 85 is also being harvested in smaller quantities. Tifton 85 is a hybrid Bermuda grass developed by the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Resource Service (USDA-ARS) in cooperation with the University of Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station.

“Our team is working hard to get hay produced and we’re finally starting to get into the groove of things," says Terrance York, senior superintendent of airfield and grounds.

HAS sells hay to brokers and anyone who has a farm that needs hay. The airport system even purchased specialized equipment to manage the endeavor, such as agricultural tractors and a bale wagon.