Export buyers are confirming good demand for western alfalfa hay during the past two weeks. This has been the case in Washington, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada. Alfalfa for export sales in Washington and Idaho totaled over 57,000 tons in the week ending June 15 with nearly half of the sales in Idaho going to California export buyers. Reported sales of timothy hay in Washington last week totaled over 50,000 tons with steady prices.
There has been good demand from export buyers on early new crop alfalfa hay in Utah with not much demand from dairy buyers. In those areas of the West where there is normally more demand from dairy buyers than exporters, such as the Central and Northern Valleys of California, demand and trading for dairy alfalfa hay was not as strong last week with a weak undertone in the market occurring late. Conversely, prices on export alfalfa hay have been steady in the West the past two weeks.
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