Straw price: I’m just waiting to hear what the cost will be for the bales at the Nome end and whether we will be shipping out from there to the coast. Stephanie is waiting to hear back from Bering Air on the cost of flying the straw out to the villages and that will determine if we ship from that end. As soon as that piece is nailed down, we’ll need to deposit money for the straw.

Each musher will need about 15 bales of straw for the trip. I can provide a figure for the cost of the straw from Nenana to Kaltag (straw only, no shipping). Stephanie has the cost of the straw from the Nome end, assuming we are shipping out from there.

The straw costs about 44 cents a pound; the shipping will cost considerably more than the straw. The cost of the air drop depends on the distance from FBNKS. Just as a ballpark, to ship 2 bales of straw (about 100 pounds) will be $ 64 for Tanana, $79 for Ruby, and $117 for Kaltag (64 cents per pound for Tanana, 79 cents per pound for Ruby, and $1.17 per pound for Kaltag). Wright’s Air is giving us a big discount by not treating the straw as oversized. The straw will need to go out about two weeks before we leave. Still to be determined is who will pick up and secure the straw, but somebody else is working on this.