There’s still time and weather to impact cropping plans, but early indications are that acreage devoted to dry hay production will rebound slightly in 2023.

A slight increase in hay acreage and yield-boosting moisture conditions in some regions provide hope for increased forage production in 2023.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reminds agricultural producers with perennial forage crops of an option to report their acreage once, without having to report that acreage in subsequent years, as long as there are no applicable changes on the farm.

The numbers of forage growers producing and marketing organic dry hay and other forages declined between 2019 and 2021, according to latest national survey data from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Total sales remain above five year average.

Hay production recovered in the northern Plains, but Texas took a big hit.