One of the worst droughts in decades continues to impact much of the United States, but is it having any impact on the demand for Manitoba hay exports?
"The interest is earlier in the season than it generally is because the dairy producers down there have had from seventy to fifty percent of what their crop is for both dry hay and silage," says Chris Kletke who farms near Brunkild, and is part of the Manitoba Forage Marketers. "They just know they have to procure their supplies that much earlier this year."
According to Kletke, speaking in broadstrokes, from what he understands Wisconsin is in the midst of the biggest drought in recorded history from a rainfall perspective and the state has also experienced the highest average mean temperatures in its history.
"Like any other area it's very regional, some guys have an average crop where some guys have absolutely nothing," says Kletke. "Alfalfa is scattered throughout the corn and soybean growing regions as a cash crop, so it is hit just as much as the grain crops are."
Kletke expects the volume of hay exported will be roughly the same, pointing to some of the limitations of what can be feasibly exported to the U.S.
"The package size needs to be a square bale, whether it be small squares or the large square format so you are limited there," says Kletke. "There might be some small dairies in Minnesota that will accept round bales, but when you are talking about freighting stuff three to six hundred miles you just can't afford to ship round bales."
Meanwhile back on Kletke's farm he too has had to deal with hot temperatures and below average rainfall this year.
"On our farm the quality is good because we've had less than average rainfall, but yields are down," says Kletke. "We will probably sit at about 60% of what we would budget for an average yield for the hay crop."
He says in other parts of the province where there has been more rainfall this season, like closer to the Saskatchewan border, yields are better but quality is lower.
Source: PortageOnline