Hay

Hay is a catchall term for forage plants, typically grasses such as timothy and Sudan-grass, and legumes such as alfalfa and clover. Hay is generally used to make cured feed for livestock. Curing, which is the proper drying of hay, is necessary to prevent spoilage. Hay, when properly cured, contains about 20% moisture. If hay is dried excessively, however, there is a loss of protein, which makes it less effective as livestock feed. Hay is harvested in virtually all of the lower 48 states, but the top producing states are Texas (with 9% of US production), California (6%), Missouri (5%), and Minnesota (4%).

Prices – Hay prices as of December 2003 were $81.30 per ton, down from the $94.00 average price seen in 2002/3 and from $96.50 seen in 2001/2.

Supply – US hay production in 2003/4 was forecast at 160.7 million tons, up from 151.0 million tons in 2002/3 and 156.8 million in 2001/2. That production is well above the annual production average of 151 million tons seen in the 1990’s. Higher production in 2003/4 is expected due to a rise in yields to 2.50 tons per acre versus the previous year’s 2.34 tons. Acres harvested in 2003/4 is actually expected to decline to 64.379 million acres from 64.497 million in 2002/3. However, that is still significantly above the average 60.6 million acres harvested in the 1990’s. Carry-over in 2002/3 was slightly higher at 22.5 million tons, up from 21.1 million tons in 2001/2.