Southwest Missouri Hay Auction

A very cold winter day had attendees bundled up in several layers for this months hay auction. Despite the cold a large crowd was still present with several new buyers on hand as well as many repeat buyers. The supply of hay was heavy, exceeding last months, making this the largest offering to date. Demand was moderate to good and hay prices were mostly steady with instances of slight weakness. Quality covered all ends of the spectrum with round bales that ranged from grinding quality to top end alfalfa, better than most cattle will ever eat. An abundance of large and small square bales generally in the mid to high quality classes was also in the offerings. Although not all of last months extreme tops were met, there was still the occasional lot that struck a few buyers right at the same time and took bidding to what would be considered an extreme. Not including any of the 1511 small square bales offered this month, the extreme top on Alfalfa was a load of 3x3 squares that tested with 21.9 percent protein, 71.5 TDN and 211 RFV which sold for $362 per ton once math was done. That high was beat by a single dollar on a load of 3x3 fancy Brome which figured to $363 per ton. Those however were the extremes as only a few other lots of Alfalfa got near or passed $300 per ton and most of the higher end Alfalfa or Alfalfa grass mixes fell in the $200-250 per ton range. Most of the fair to good quality round bales of grasses were in the $65-90 per ton range with good to premium quality grass type bales $100-150 per ton.