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Hay Market Insights: Weather, dairy and exports testing patience

May 10, 2019

Dave Natzke

A wet, cool spring, dairy’s slow climb to better milk prices and trade war rhetoric continue to try the patience of many hay growers and marketers.

Tips for making better small square bales

April 29, 2019

Curt Hoffman

Whether you’re baling small square bales for your own use or to sell commercially, one of the most critical factors in producing a better hay bale is retaining moisture.

Buying and selling hay on the stump

April 29, 2019

Ben Eborn

Establishing a price for hay on the stump can be a little tricky. A fair price is somewhere between the seller’s cost of production and the buyer’s estimated value minus the cost to harvest.

Nutrients lost: Hay versus grazing

April 29, 2019

Woody Lane

Here’s a question I hear a lot: How much soil fertility does grazing remove from pastures compared to hay? To ask this another way: If I graze a flock of sheep on the field and then sell the lambs, do those lambs and ewes remove as many soil nutrients as when I make hay or balage from that field?

What does your bale cost?

April 29, 2019

J. Brett Rushing

How much money do I have in each bale? What does it cost me to produce an acre of hybrid bermudagrass? How do I calculate my equipment and labor costs?

Calculating depreciation and interest in hay production

April 29, 2019

Greg Halich

Hay producers are often focused exclusively on cash costs or variable costs of production such as fuel, repairs, fertilizer, hired labor and rent. Whereas, the fixed costs of depreciation and interest on equipment are often ignored.

Alfalfa remains country’s third most valuable field crop

April 23, 2019

According to figures released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), alfalfa continues to be the third most valuable field crop produced in the U.S., valued at over $9.9 billion.

Ag tractor, combine sales mixed in March

April 11, 2019

Dave Natzke

March brought mostly positive numbers for U.S. sales of agricultural tractors and combines, with a decline in sales of midsize tractors pulling overall numbers down slightly, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM).

Pacific Northwest growers look for profitable year

April 8, 2019

Dave Natzke

Lower supplies across the Northwest are setting the stage for improved profitability for the region’s hay producers in 2019, according to the latest Northwest Farm Credit Services’ Hay Market Snapshot. Beyond inventories, the quarterly update notes that the 2019 growing season both home and abroad, domestic demand, trade talks and exports factor into the 12-month outlook.

Hay Market Insights: 2019 acreage questions remain

April 4, 2019

Dave Natzke

Many variables remain, but the USDA’s initial estimate of 2019 acreage devoted to major crops indicates little change in the area harvested for dry hay compared to a year ago.