Dairies in the West struggling to find higher-quality alfalfa hay |
| By Seth Hoyt |
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Rainy weather from mid-May to mid-June and with forecasts of above 100° temperatures over the next 10 days, supplies of Premium and Supreme alfalfa hay are well below normal in the West. While there are dairies that are not in the hay market because they have sufficient inventories, others are not finding the quality of alfalfa hay that they would normally buy. A dairy in southern Idaho that normally buys Supreme quality alfalfa for their milk cows said they couldn’t find even alfalfa hay that tests 170 RFV. They are now assessing how much below 170 RFV they are willing to go for milk cow hay. Small supplies of Supreme alfalfa hay in Utah and Idaho are selling for $200 to $210 FOB (freight on board) the stack. Early tests on alfalfa hay in Nevada are disappointing with a few sales of supreme in northern Nevada selling from $200 to $225 FOB. |
