Searches can be filtered for specific characteristics
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The Missouri Department of Agriculture is making searching for hay bales easier for farmers.
Updates to the Hay Directory site, which the ag department runs, means farmers looking for hay can filter search results by county, state, the type of hay and the type of bale.
Each listing also comes with contact information, and some posts have lab analysis results.
Farmers listing hay can also add information specific to their available hay.
“Times are tough in this extensive drought,” Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn said in a statement. “I’m thankful our team is able to provide resources to producers statewide. With new updates to the MDA Hay Directory, it will be even easier for producers to find what they need and ensure hay is available to their livestock.”
These updates come after the ag department warned Missouri farmers about fraudulent hay sales.
The warning on June 13 indicated multiple farmers contacted the department about paying for hay via wire transfer but not receiving what they’ve paid for.
The University of Missouri also has a hay listing resource farmers can consult.
Farmers looking for hay out of state can try the AgriHay Exchange.
Missourians may receive drought relief in August.
“We have probabilities for above-normal precipitation over much of the state, in fact, and into portions of the Ohio Valley,” Jared Maples, a meteorologist with the National Weather Office in St. Louis, told Missouri’s Drought Assessment Committee, Missourinet.com reported. “So, a pretty board stretch of overactive weather could pan out into August.”