Fair Weather Helps Kentucky Producers Rebuild Hay Stocks

Kentucky hay growers hope a good 2014 growing season will help them restock hay inventories depleted after a “pretty severe winter.”

So says Tom Keene, hay marketing specialist with University of Kentucky Extension.

“We do have some inventory but we don't have a tremendous amount,” Keene says. Hay prices, he estimates, should stay the same or increase slightly come fall. "But we won't really know until all the hay is made – perhaps in September or October.”

Spring and early summer brought good moisture to the state. Grass that was fertilized early and alfalfa hay have yielded well.

“We’ve gotten quite a bit of good hay made so far. And we've had plenty of moisture, so things are looking pretty good. It's just a matter of getting that hay made between showers, which is typical of trying to make hay in Kentucky in May and early June.”