State-By-State Hay Summary
Colorado—In the Dec. 19, 2024 report, compared to last report, trade activity and demand light. Small squares of horse hay steady. Next report will be released Jan. 9.
Missouri—In the Jan. 2 report, compared to last report, hay prices are unevenly steady. The supply of hay is moderate to heavy, and demand is light to moderate. The forecast of the first real winter weather event has farmers around the state preparing the best they can ahead what appears at minimum to be a week of extreme and potentially dangerous cold. The addition of significant moisture in some form or another adds another level of uncertainty. An ever so slight increase in demand has been noted mostly from equine interest and smaller farmers without a lot of storage. Although subsoil moisture might still be lacking in areas the surface is very mudding in much of the state and getting around to feed has been a big difficult for many. Hay moment remains slow although there has been a slight uptick of hauling ahead of the upcoming storm much of it local hay that was bought earlier.
Nebraska—In the Dec. 19, 2024 report, compared to last report, hay sales sold steady. Demand was mostly light. Best demand coming from backgrounding and feedlots. Weather remains very nice for this time of year and caretakers are not having to feed extra resources to maintain weight on their livestock. But, living in Nebraska all that could change with a blink of an eye. Many sellers of hay would like to see some snow to cover up stock fields or winter range so they could move additional tons of hay before the 2025 haying season arrives. Reporting will resume the week of Jan. 6.
Oklahoma—In the Jan. 3 report, compared to the last report, demand for hay remains light, and prices remain steady. Trade was down from the previous report due to holidays. More cold winter air is forecast to move in over the next couple of weeks. The availability of Oklahoma hay remains high as most hay producers still have barns full of hay. Next report will be released Jan. 17.
Texas—In the Dec. 13, 2024 report, compared to last report, hay prices are mostly steady across all regions. Hay movement and demand have picked up. Livestock producers across all regions have began supplemental feeding as cool season grasses have enter dormancy. Key rains and abnormally warm temperatures in the Panhandle and portions of the North have offered the winter wheat crop a key boost, giving livestock producers hope for a good winter grazing season. However in other regions of the state drought conditions have intensified. Next report was scheduled to be released Jan. 3, but as of press time has not updated.
South Dakota—In the Jan. 3 report, compared to last report, small areas of the region did observe heavy rainfall, where rainfall totals were more than an inch above normal. This above-normal precipitation allowed for improvements to be made in drought conditions.
New Mexico—As of the Nov. 22, 2024 report, the hay season was complete. No more reports will be issued until spring 2025.
Wyoming—In the Dec. 19, 2024 report, compared to the last report, according to producers movement and demand is light all over Wyoming, even though a couple of deals were made this week that moved some hay. There was no reports the week of Dec. 23 and 30, 2024.
Montana—In the Dec. 20, 2024 report, compared to last report, hay sales were too lightly tested this week to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. Buyers report very light demand going into the holiday season. Hay movement remains very slow. Warm weather and open pastures have allowed ranchers to keep cows out on pasture and even some up at higher elevations. Hay usage is very light as a result. Producers continue to advertise hay with some dropping asking prices in an effort to move supplies. Despite dry conditions ranchers show little motivation to buy hay. Supplies of hay remain heavy across much of the state. Demand from horse hay buyers remains good, however these sales are mostly single or partial load sales and not a large percentage of the market. Hay producers still have a heavy supply of rained on hay and demand for rain damaged hay is very light. Old crop (2023) hay and straw remains on the market and producers are struggling to move this hay as many report offerings are under production cost.
