State-By-State Hay Markets
Colorado—In Jan. 29 report, compared to the last report, trade activity light on moderate demand. Prices mostly steady across all hay types. The next available report will be Feb. 12.
Missouri—In the Feb. 6 report, as predicted snow and cold did take over the state a couple of weeks ago, luckily for most of MO there wasn’t as much snow as had been forecast. A warmup this past week has most of that snow gone now. It very dry snow without much moisture content and really did nothing to change the drought monitor. Far SW and SC are now seeing some areas in D3 status. Feeding season is likely around the mid-point now and supplies are still plentiful, although much of the round bales being feed to cattle do need some additional supplementation this year as quality did not meet quantity. Hay demand is light to moderate and being out weighted by the current supply. Prices are mostly steady. The Missouri Department of Agriculture has a hay directory at https://apps.mda.mo.gov/haydirectory or visit the University of Missouri Extension feed stuff finder at https://feedstufffinder.org.
Nebraska—In the Jan. 29 report, Compared to the last report all reported hay sales sold steady with the exception of grass hay rounds, which traded $10/ton lower. Demand is mostly light to moderate on all classes.
Oklahoma—In the Jan. 30 report, compared to the last report, Due to the snowstorm, movement has picked up; movement has been slow to steady over the past couple of weeks. The next report release will be on Feb. 13.
Texas—In the Feb. 6 report, compared to the last report, hay prices were steady with good demand. The next available hay report will be Feb. 20.
South Dakota— In the Jan. 16 report, compared to last report, Light to moderate demand for all types of hay. Good demand for corn stalks and straw. The winter has been mild, with a lack of snow cover across the majority of the state, but pen conditions have been wet/muddy causing cattle feeders to need to bed with corn stalks which has helped demand for stalks. Plentiful hay supplies and lack of snow is really keeping a damper on the hay market. High testing dairy hay is harder to find, best outlet for that type of hay is out of state however.
Wyoming— In Feb. 5 report, compared to two weeks ago most hay sales sold steady, instances 10.00 higher on some large square bales in the eastern side of the state. Demand was moderate. Bulk of the contacts that contribute to this report are sold out of hay. Some still have some loads of Alfalfa and Teff grass left to sell in small and large squares. Some producers feel like with the exceptionally warm and dry weather the hay market could spike up soon. Time will tell. A lot of eyes are carefully watching the Wyoming-NRCS weekly snow report. For this week, the state’s SNOTELs are reading 85% of median with a basin high of 112% and a basin low of 4%. Last year the state was at 87%, and at 76% in 2024. As they are trying to figure out how much available irrigation water there may be within their districts.
Montana— In Feb. 6 report, compared to last report, hay sold mostly steady. Very unseasonably warm, above average temperatures were seen across the state over the past two weeks. Many producers still have cows out grazing which has drastically reduced the use of hay. January-April are the months that usually see the most hay use but hay usage has been drastically down so far this year. Hay supplies remain tight in Western and Northern Montana. Delivered hay prices to far Northern and western Montana are mostly north of 200.00/ton with many ranging from 210.00-235.00 per ton. Most producers in Western and Northern Montana report they are sold out of hay for the season, however southern producers still have hay to market. Demand for round bales is very good as many ranchers report that they are hard to find. Hay in rounds continues to bring a 10.00-20.00 premium to hay in squares. However some ranchers are starting to buy hay in squares as round supplies are very tight. According to the drought monitor 31.29 of the state is in Moderate drought or worse, up 13.10% from 2 weeks ago. 9.70 of the state is in an Severe drought or worse, up 1.62% from 2 weeks ago. 1.46% of the state is in Extreme drought or worse, unchanged from 2 weeks ago. 0% of the state is in Expectational drought, unchanged from 2 weeks ago. Notably, 63.27% of the state is abnormally dry, up 13.49% from 2 weeks ago.
