When wildfires hit northwest Oklahoma this April, the call went out again for hay. But, unlike the year before, not nearly the same amount of hay was trucked in from other parts of the country. Jim Robb of the Livestock Market Information Center told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, that is because hay stocks are so low this spring - depleted over the past several months. Stocks started out lower year-over-year back in December 2017, but today, Robb says current hay stocks have dwindled down now to levels not seen since 2013. Click here for USDA’s latest Crop Production report and scroll down to page 6 for a look at the Hay Stocks numbers.
“We expected nearly record tight nationwide hay stocks as of May 1, reported by USDA. It actually came in tighter than we anticipated,” Robb said, noting that even more hay was fed than usual this year across the Plains, especially in the Southern Plains where weather has remained extremely dry. “So, these hay stocks are very tight and we’ve seen that in hay prices which have been moving consistently higher year-over-year.”
Click here to see more...