Farms.com Home   News

Quality Hay Is Tough To Find In Michigan

Dairy-quality hay is lacking in much of Michigan, but that translates to only steady prices throughout the state, reports Phil Kaatz, Michigan State University (MSU) Extension educator for forages and field crops.

Recent hay auctions have sold top-quality small squares of mixed hay at $220-230/ton. But Kaatz has heard other reports in the $250-300/ton range – comparable to last year’s early November prices.

“I would say the price for top-quality hay is going to increase as the season goes on. It’s hard to say, though, because a lot of it may have already been bought and sold.”

Rained-on hay fetches between $65 and $75/ton in large round bales, he reports. Wet, cool weather brought an abundance of medium- and poor-quality hay.

“The weather has been crazy. We didn’t have long periods of dry weather for producers to get hay made at the right time.”

Michigan hay growers are used to dealing with wet and cool conditions at late-May first cuttings. They’re not used to an entire growing season being that way, Kaatz says.

“For second or third cutting, we usually have stretches where we can get some real nice, dry hay put up. It didn’t happen in a majority of locations this year.”

Click here to see more...

Trending Video

Top Tips on Corteva Agriscience’s Enlist Weed Control in Corn

Video: Top Tips on Corteva Agriscience’s Enlist Weed Control in Corn

During this Seed World Visits interview, Corteva Agriscience’s Enlist Field Specialist Tony Goede explains the Enlist Weed Control System, including how to tackle weed resistance, the differences between Enlist corn and Enlist E3 soybeans, and why farmers shouldn’t (and can’t) use generic 2,4-D with Enlist crops.