Hay Market Reports

After a mild start, winter finally arrived about the time groundhogs were poking their heads out of holes in search of an early spring. What they saw were lots of roughage-consuming animals to feed.

From supply and demand, weather and shipping challenges to distribution of government assistance payments and pandemic vaccines, there was no shortage of issues affecting hay markets and marketers – directly or indirectly – as the new year got underway.

The early December hay market contained a little bit naughty and a little bit nice. Average prices and exports inched up, but areas impacted by drought grew. 

The hay season is transitioning from harvesting to feeding and/or marketing, as the calendar changes to early November. Marketers reported a noticeable increase in buyer interest, as winter needs came into focus. Here’s a look at post-election-day hay market conditions.

October brought the USDA’s first harvest estimates for the 2020 haying season. Highlighting numbers of note, U.S. acreage devoted to alfalfa and alfalfa mixture hay continued a long-term trend lower, while average yields of other hay maintained a small but steady increase.

As a kid, one of my summer rituals was to check out the bale counter each night to see how many small bales of alfalfa we put up that day. For a numbers geek like me, once in a while something catches my eye and forces a deeper look. Such is the case with the USDA’s summary of July 2020 hay exports.