Under the Hay Tree, World’s Hay Price Was Set

Under the Hay Tree, World’s Hay Price Was Set. . One of the biggest hay suppliers to the Southern California dairy industry was Western Consumers Feed Company, which had its headquarters in the still-standing building to the south of the Hay Tree. To the north, where City Hall now sits, was the Trev. Moore Sales and Service Co., for decades the largest dairy broker in California. , The camphor before you, long ago dubbed the “Hay Tree,” served as an informal gathering place for workers, farmers and hay sellers, longtime Paramount residents still recall it as the site of a lazy lunch or a spirited game of cards. After each of his cattle auctions, Moore would say out a catered meal beneath the branches for his customers. , Every morning, representatives from the city’s many hay lots would gather under the tree to compare notes and decide the day’s composite price for hay, which Western Consumers could then forward to brokers in Chicago and New York City to set the price for hay sellers the world over.