Small Pet Select Second Cut Timothy Hay Small Animal Food, 12-lb box

I've been ordering SPS's hay since about September. Recently, just to double check that I was getting the best stuff for my guinea pigs, I ordered a larger box of Oxbow's timothy hay and Blue Mountain Hay's timothy hay (the version they say is for small pets). And the quality is seriously not even CLOSE. Both of the others were mainly small clippings of hay (like 2 inch pieces) absolutely covered in dust and chaff from top to bottom. The Blue Mountian at least looked green, but Oxbow looked very muted and pale. Small Pet's hay was a fresh green. In one of my pics, you can see the Small Pet hay compared to the other 2. The color difference is more dramatic in person, but you can still see in the pics that the Blue Mountain and the Small Pet are pretty similar in color (more vibrant green) while the box to the right (Oxbow) is a pale, muted green. It's bananas to me that a brand like Oxbow sends out such stale hay. They're supposed to be top-tier. Besides color... Small Pet's hay actually smells like hay, whereas the other ones smell dusty. Not necessarily moldy, but just... Really, dusty is the best word here. My pigs don't want to touch the other hay, not even the fluffy parts the piggies normally love (seed heads, I think they're called). With the Small Pet hay, I only ever get the 12lb boxes. Inevitably, some of the stuff at the bottom of the box isn't usable, which makes sense since it's compressed by all the hay on top of it... And the box is basically overflowing with hay when I open it, so it's a lot of hay. I'm 1000% fine with tossing that little bit at the end because 99% of the hay is beloved by my pigs. But still, it's something to keep in mind. I only ever had an issue with my Small Pet hay once and they quickly resolved my problem. It's this that finally motivated me to write a review about the hay. Not only is the quality of the hay second to none, but it's clear they also stand behind their products.