If you read the opening paragraph of our forage statistics poster (inserted in the center of your magazine), the first word is “drought” and the words “nation’s worst agricultural calamity since 1988” follow shortly thereafter.
Mother Nature and the weather certainly played a big role in the forage story again in 2012, as they did the previous year.
According to preliminary data provided by the National Climatic Data Center, the nation’s annual average temperature of 55.3ºF was 3.3 degrees above the 1901 to 2000 mean, demolishing the 1998 standard of 54.3ºF. In fact, seven of the nation’s ten warmest years on record have occurred in the last 15 years.
The nation also suffered through its driest year since 1988, and fifteenth-driest year on record. Annual precipitation averaged 26.57 inches (91 percent of normal) across the contiguous United States.
USDA reports indicate production of all dry hay for 2012 is estimated at 120 million tons, down 9 percent from the 2011 total. This is the lowest United States production level since 1964.
Area harvested is estimated at 56.3 million acres, down 2 percent from the October 1 forecast but up 1 percent from last year. The average yield, at 2.13 tons per acre, is down 0.23 ton from the previous year, the lowest United States yield since 1976.
Corn silage production, on the other hand, is estimated at 113 million tons in 2012, up 4 percent from 2011 and represents the highest production in the U.S. since 1982.
U.S. silage yield is estimated at 15.4 tons per acre, down 3.0 tons from 2011. Area harvested for silage is estimated at 7.38 million acres, up 24 percent from a year ago.
One reason for this might be that some acres of corn acres originally planted and intended for grain harvest ended up being harvested for silage instead of grain.
It would be interesting to know if quality of this abundance of silage is as high as one would hope to make it useful for feed rations.
Some other statistics on the map this year might also be a bit misleading. If you look at some of the southern states, Texas and Oklahoma, for example, they show a very large increase in total forage production: 74.7 percent and 88.7 percent, respectively.
But remember, they had a large decrease in their overall production during 2011, so their “increase” in production is just bringing them back closer to average levels again.
Also according to the USDA’s recent Crop Production 2012 Summary report, all hay stored on farms December 1, 2012 totaled 76.5 million tons, down 16 percent from a year ago. This is the lowest December 1 stocks level since 1957.
In addition, because of the extreme weather conditions of the past couple of growing seasons and its effect on pasture growth, producers have been forced to feed hay to animals sooner than they expected or have had need to do in previous years.
As you would expect, with the extremes in weather and shortage of available forage, prices also continue to increase. While this shouldn’t be any big surprise, it still seems to catch people off guard at times and has, unfortunately, forced many producers out of business.
I have said it before, but it never hurts to say it again. Forage producers need to continue to pay attention to their bottom line. Look for ways to be more efficient, and pay attention to the little things that can make a big difference in the long run.
Continue to educate yourself about the balance between quality and quantity, and do what’s best for your own individual circumstances.
Let the weather do what it will, but never be timid about taking an active role to shape the future story of your operation. That’s how you will be able to stay in business for a long time to come. FG
Lynn Olsen
Editor
Progressive Forage Grower
Mother Nature and the weather certainly played a big role in the forage story again in 2012, as they did the previous year.
According to preliminary data provided by the National Climatic Data Center, the nation’s annual average temperature of 55.3ºF was 3.3 degrees above the 1901 to 2000 mean, demolishing the 1998 standard of 54.3ºF. In fact, seven of the nation’s ten warmest years on record have occurred in the last 15 years.
The nation also suffered through its driest year since 1988, and fifteenth-driest year on record. Annual precipitation averaged 26.57 inches (91 percent of normal) across the contiguous United States.
USDA reports indicate production of all dry hay for 2012 is estimated at 120 million tons, down 9 percent from the 2011 total. This is the lowest United States production level since 1964.
Area harvested is estimated at 56.3 million acres, down 2 percent from the October 1 forecast but up 1 percent from last year. The average yield, at 2.13 tons per acre, is down 0.23 ton from the previous year, the lowest United States yield since 1976.
Corn silage production, on the other hand, is estimated at 113 million tons in 2012, up 4 percent from 2011 and represents the highest production in the U.S. since 1982.
U.S. silage yield is estimated at 15.4 tons per acre, down 3.0 tons from 2011. Area harvested for silage is estimated at 7.38 million acres, up 24 percent from a year ago.
One reason for this might be that some acres of corn acres originally planted and intended for grain harvest ended up being harvested for silage instead of grain.
It would be interesting to know if quality of this abundance of silage is as high as one would hope to make it useful for feed rations.
Some other statistics on the map this year might also be a bit misleading. If you look at some of the southern states, Texas and Oklahoma, for example, they show a very large increase in total forage production: 74.7 percent and 88.7 percent, respectively.
But remember, they had a large decrease in their overall production during 2011, so their “increase” in production is just bringing them back closer to average levels again.
Also according to the USDA’s recent Crop Production 2012 Summary report, all hay stored on farms December 1, 2012 totaled 76.5 million tons, down 16 percent from a year ago. This is the lowest December 1 stocks level since 1957.
In addition, because of the extreme weather conditions of the past couple of growing seasons and its effect on pasture growth, producers have been forced to feed hay to animals sooner than they expected or have had need to do in previous years.
As you would expect, with the extremes in weather and shortage of available forage, prices also continue to increase. While this shouldn’t be any big surprise, it still seems to catch people off guard at times and has, unfortunately, forced many producers out of business.
I have said it before, but it never hurts to say it again. Forage producers need to continue to pay attention to their bottom line. Look for ways to be more efficient, and pay attention to the little things that can make a big difference in the long run.
Continue to educate yourself about the balance between quality and quantity, and do what’s best for your own individual circumstances.
Let the weather do what it will, but never be timid about taking an active role to shape the future story of your operation. That’s how you will be able to stay in business for a long time to come.
