By Jaime Luke and Frank Wardynski
The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) recently released their annual Prospective Plantings report. Included in the report are national and state estimates for 2025 harvested hay acreage. Nationally, USDA NASS projects 48.5 million acres of hay will be harvested in 2025, down 2% from the prior year and 8% from 2023. In Michigan, harvested hay acreage for 2025 is estimated at 740,000 acres, a decrease of 3% from 2024 and 5% from 2023. Notably, if the 2025 projection is correct, this would represent the lowest number of harvested hay acres in the state since at least 1909 (when USDA started keeping track).
Both hay and haylage are pertinent forage crops produced in the state. However, USDA only projects harvested acreage for hay. In Figure 1, harvested acreage for both hay and haylage are graphed. Unlike hay, harvested haylage acres in Michigan have remained fairly steady, annually averaging 288,200 acres since 2000. Both hay and haylage will be considered for the remainder of the article, as acreage may be substituted between the two forage crops. That is, some of the lost hay acres may have been harvested as haylage, so considering both provides a better understanding of broader forage crop production trends.
Figure 1. Michigan Harvested Hay & Haylage Acres (Stacked), 2000 – 2025 (Projected)
Hay and/or haylage are produced in all but one county in Michigan. USDA NASS estimates county-level harvested hay and haylage acreage every 5 years via the Census of Agriculture. The most recent Census of Agriculture occurred in 2022, providing the latest insights into where the production of hay and haylage is concentrated in the state. As shown in Figure 2, the top three counties for harvested hay and haylage acres in 2022 included Sanilac (40,340 acres), Missaukee (36,296 acres), and Chippewa (36,059 acres).
Figure 2. Michigan Harvested Hay & Haylage Acres by County (2022)
According to Census of Agriculture data, 53 of the 82 Michigan hay and haylage-producing counties saw declines in harvested hay and haylage acreage between 2017 and 2022. Although Figure 2 indicates that hay and haylage production is more highly concentrated in the thumb and central regions of the lower peninsula of Michigan, Figure 3 illustrates that these regions experienced declines in the number of harvested hay and haylage acres between the two census years. The three counties losing the largest number of harvested hay and haylage acres were Ogemaw (-4,911acres), Osceola (-4,826 acres), and Marquette (-4,308 acres). On the contrary, the greatest gains were realized in Clinton (7,831 acres), Chippewa (6,703 acres), and Hillsdale (6,184 acres).
Figure 3. County-Level Change in Harvested Hay & Haylage Acres (2022 vs. 2017)
On balance, combined hay and haylage production in Michigan continues to decrease alongside harvested acreage. In fact, Michigan produced just under 3.4 million tons of hay and haylage in 2024, the lowest amount on record since USDA began tracking in 2000. Hay stocks decreased for the state over that timeframe, as well.
Based on 2024 USDA NASS data, Michigan has 440,000 head of dairy cows. Michigan’s milk per dairy cow is the highest in the country. These cows are fed high quality forages to achieve that task. It is likely that most of the haylage produced in Michigan is being fed to dairy cows and heifers. On the other hand, Michigan has 100,000 beef cows that consume hay; this inventory has been rather steady as of late. Other hay-consuming animals include horses, goats, and sheep, among others. Without major changes in the inventories of hay-consuming livestock over the past few years, the declining hay production numbers may seem curious. Many factors could be at play. First, favorable prices for corn and soybeans in prior years have likely transitioned some hay acres to row crop production. For example, Ogemaw, the county with the greatest decline in the number of harvested hay and haylage acres (-4,911 acres), experienced an increase of 5,259 harvested corn and soybean acres from 2017 to 2022. In addition, Michigan winters have been trending warmer, potentially leading to decreased demand for hay to be fed to livestock throughout the winter months. It may also be that Michigan hay producers were exporting excess hay supplies to other states in the past, but data are not available to test this hypothesis.
As livestock producers make production decisions both now and into the future, will the state’s declining hay acreage be a constraint?
Source : msu.edu