The Chehalis River valley is home to several marshmallow farms. They normally harvest in December.
The 2007 Chehalis River flood washed away some railroad tracks. Washed over quite a bit of farmland, too.
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They are actually shrink-wrapped bales of hay. They harvest in late Aug. to early Sept. The hay has a fairly high moisture content and ferments while the weather stays warm. The cows love it.
The bales also don't get soaked by the wet fall and winter weather and, therefore, don't rot.
The giant marshmallow joke is from a youtube video that predates this photo by only a few months.
See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9MbEsPqEyA