Ranchers report average hay year, Markets down slightly due to carryover

BUFFALO — Both the timing and the yield for hay harvest has been about average so far this summer, ranchers say.

Tyler Benton, who ranches on Cross H, just south of Buffalo, said that he was getting ready to start on the second cutting of hay the week of Aug. 12. Last year, uncommonly wet conditions throughout the year, especially in May and June, delayed the timing of ranchers' first cutting but did ultimately boost yields.

“Last year was one of those unreal years we won't see again with that kind of moisture the way we had it,” Benton said. "We're right on average with what we'd normally get for first cutting.”

Micah Most, Johnson County's University of Wyoming extension agriculture and natural resources educator, said that the earliest hay cutting he has seen this year was during the third week of May. That's despite how dry conditions have been since late spring.

Much of Johnson County is in a moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The southwestern corner of the county fares a little better, as it is considered just abnormally dry.

A good hay harvest comes down to a balance of yield and quality, especially for alfalfa, Most said. The longer the plants continue to grow, the larger they will be. But as time goes on, the plants also lose nutritional quality.

It also can't be too wet or too dry.

“If you cut too early, it'll be higher quality in the more actively growing vegetative stage, but it doesn't yield as much,” he said. "You're also timing it so that you're not cutting hay and laying it down on the field when there's a storm coming. When it gets rained on, it leaches nutritional quality out."

Ranchers will aim to cut during a dry spell, of which there have been quite a few so far this summer.

Still, it hasn't been so unrelentingly dry as to cease irrigation on Benton's fields. He said that his water was regulated roughly three weeks ago, but he has had enough flow to rotate through and keep his fields irrigated.

"Water lasted longer than it does a lot of other years," Benton said. "That was partially because of some higher snow on the mountain that took longer to come down."

Benton reported that his hay crop has so far been average  three tons per acre on the first cutting.

Last year's banner precipitation until fall that brought greater yields, paired with the mild winter of 2023-24, left a lot of carryover stock, as fair range conditions lasted later than normal and ranchers didn't have to feed their livestock with hay for as long, Most said.

Consequently, the market is down a bit this year compared with last year, Benton said. He is selling his hay for roughly $150 a ton, whereas last year, he said he saw prices between $160 and $180 and even higher.

"We had a lot of carryover from last year. We sold a lot of our first cutting off the hay field," Benton said. "Some of the other people that put up a lot of hay are in the same boat; they don't want to get stuck with a whole bunch of hay. So we dropped our price just a little bit."

This story was published on August 22, 2024.