Monday, March 29, 2021

State-By-State Hay Summary

Colorado—In the March 18 report, compared to last week, trade activity light on good demand for feedlot and dairy hay. Trade activity light on good demand for stable and farm/ranch quality hay. Northeast Colorado trade activity light on good demand for ranch and stable hay. Southeast Colorado trade activity light on good demand for dairy, ranch, and stable hay. Trade inactive in the San Luis Valley. Trade activity light on good demand for stable hay in the Mountains and Northwest Colorado areas. Trade activity in Southwest Colorado light on good demand for stable hay.

Missouri—In the March 18 report, compared to last week, hay prices remain mostly steady although some lower quality hay is weak. Demand is light to moderate and supplies are moderate. The wet season in Missouri has started. Field work has been put on hold as fields are either very squishy or have standing water on them. There was some fertilizer spread in the week. Farmers that didn’t prepay are watching prices rise daily. Most components and mixtures are at their highest levels since 2015. Still several loads of round bales moving as some farmers needs a few more bales to finish out the feeding season.

Nebraska—In the March 18 report, compared to last week alfalfa, grass hay and ground and delivered forages steady. Dehydrated and sun-cured pellets in the Platte Valley steady to $15 higher. Contacts stated buyer inquiry was good this week with weather in the central and western areas causing difficulty in shipping hay. Several loads continue to go out of state. Some contacts know where there is some hay to procure but sellers are holding on to extra hay inventories until some moisture arrives.

Oklahoma—In the March 18 report, compared to the last report Feb. 28, the hay trade remains slow, recent rainfall has hay pastures storing round bales hard to get loaded onto trucks. No trades of ground alfalfa again this week. Demand remains moderate as most feed yards and dairies seem to be current as of now. Demand remaIns moderate for farmers and ranchers.

Texas—In the March 19 report, compared to the last report, hay prices are firm to $10 higher per ton in the Panhandle, west, north, and central Texas. Hay prices are mostly steady to firm in south and east Texas. Hay supplies continue to tighten across all regions. Along with the severe weather, locally more than 1 inch of rainfall was observed across the Texas Panhandle, resulting in drought improvement. Additionally, across other regions in the southern Plains, western Gulf Coast, and lower Mississippi Valley, mostly dry weather prevailed along with above normal temperatures and periods of increased winds. The next report will be released April 2.

Kansas—In the March 23 report, compared to the last report, hay market prices were mostly steady for all hay types; demand remains strong for alfalfa.

Folks report they have received plenty of inquiring phone calls. Sales slowed a bit this past week, however, and now that we are pretty much guaranteed a first cutting, there seems to be a softer undertone to pricing. Prior to the rain, folks kept busy with field work, applying fertilizer, and putting down anhydrous. Post rain, pastures have been greening up but still not green enough to feed livestock. There has been talk that a high percentage of hay producer’s hay ground will go to corn and beans.

New Mexico—This report will resume in the spring of 2021.

South Dakota—In the March 19 report, compared to last week: All classes steady. Good demand remains for dairy quality hay, best demand is coming from out of state dairies. Very light demand for straw and corn stalks. A large winter storm early in the week dropped up to 12 inches of snow, with 1 inch of rain before hand has created very muddy ground conditions as the temps warm and the snow melts, making loading hay difficult. Large volumes of hay continue to be offered in the regional hay auctions. Muddy ground conditions, made more so as rain/snow fell across the region at midweek.

Wyoming—In the March 18 report, Compared to last week trade activity light on hay due to inclement weather. Sun-cured alfalfa pellets steady and hay cubes steady to 10.00 higher. Demand was good with several buyers looking for hay. Nice, wet snow reported in different areas of the state on this week’s calls.

Montana—In the March 12 report, compared to the last week, hay sold fully steady. Supplies of hay continue to tighten and some producers are completely sold out. Warmer weather has many ready for summer turnout but it still remains 6 to 10 weeks away. Some producers are holding on to supplies for emergencies as late season snow storms can dump heavy volumes of snow. Many ranchers are becoming very concerned about drought conditions. Hay movement was slower this week as many continue to deliver hay that was purchased during the cold snap three weeks ago. According to the drought monitor 84.69% of the state is abnormally dry, unchanged since last week. Currently 37.36% of the state is in moderate drought or worse a decrease of 23.82% since last week. Drought conditions worsened slightly in the far eastern portions of the state but improved drastically in the western two thirds of the state.