Two years of drought have had a major impact on hay production, according to the recently released Dec. 1 hay stocks from the USDA.

Whether buying or selling hay, there’s plenty to unwrap as the calendar year comes to a close.

The 2022 hay crop has been made. Those marketing and moving it face plenty of challenges.

New-crop corn futures have steadily increased over the past two months. Thus, there is not any relief in sight for higher feed costs. With higher interest rates, the cost of storage becomes a larger concern. 

While getting an accurate count of stored feeds is important, understanding how far the stored feeds will go is necessary.

The USDA’s monthly World Ag Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, released Aug. 12, 2022, revised 2022-23 U.S. milk production estimates higher due to larger cow inventories and increases in milk output per cow.