Flooding across parts of Montana has taken a bite out of hay supplies and could put upward pressure on prices.
About 15,000 bales of hay – worth more than $1 million – were lost or seriously damaged during an Aug. 23-24 storm that dropped 6-9” of rain across central and north-central Montana. Some alfalfa fields were flooded as well, says Marko Manoukian, Montana State University Extension agent in Phillips County.
Montana was in a hay-deficit situation before the flooding, Manoukian says.
“We’d already started taking hay out of areas to the east of us, more than 200 miles away in some cases,” he says. “I don’t know where we’re going to get extra forage from now.”
Reports of poor-quality hay and limited supplies extend all the way from Idaho to Minnesota, the agent says. “And there doesn’t seem to be the supply in Canada like there once was.”
“I think people are starting to have a hard time finding hay that has not been rained on in some areas,” agrees Emily Glunk, forage specialist with Montana State University Extension. “In the long run, I suspect that will cause a problem with supply and may increase the price of hay, especially for those looking for high-quality hay that has not been impacted by the rains.”
Across the state, supreme-quality alfalfa in large squares is holding steady at $215/ton, Glunk reports. Premium large squares average $200/ton. Good-quality large squares sell between $170 and $180/ton and fair-quality large squares are around $155/ton.
Old-crop, premium-quality timothy in small squares currently prices at $180/ton.
Some farmers are afraid to sell some hay because it is showing signs of mold, Glunk reports. One farmer told her that he lost rained-on hay to a spontaneous-combustion fire.
“So we’re losing both quantity and quality,” she notes.
John Lacey, Glasgow, was poised to take second-cutting alfalfa when those August rains swelled the nearby Milk River. He figures he lost about 200 tons of hay in flooded fields and another 200 tons was damaged from rainwater standing in his stackyard.
“It was unfortunate timing for us. We took quite a hit,” he said. “We were ready to make a haul on second cutting, expecting to yield between 2 and 2 1/2 tons per acre.”
About 80 of his 150 flooded alfalfa acres will need to be reseeded next spring, Lacey estimates.
On a positive note, soil moisture in the region has been replenished and that bodes well for 2015, he says.
“We’ll bounce back next year. It’s sure greening up now.”
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