Price spread between Supreme and Fair quality alfalfa is widening in the West.

Seth Hoyt
Author of The Hoyt Report, providing hay market analysis and insight.

In eastern Idaho last week, one sale on Supreme alfalfa hay brought $200 fob the stack. While there weren’t any actual sales reported on Fair quality (feeder hay), there were bids of $70 per ton at the stack. In southern Idaho, the spread between the top and bottom of the alfalfa hay market was around $100 per ton. In central California last week, the price spread between Supreme and Fair quality alfalfa hay was running $100 to $110 per ton. Unfortunately, indications are that these wide spreads will continue due to very tight supplies of higher quality alfalfa hay and an oversupply of Fair and lower quality alfalfa hay. Growers in the West are trying to produce better quality alfalfa hay by harvesting on fewer days between cuttings. The hot temperatures have made it difficult to produce higher quality alfalfa hay, even cutting on fewer days.