Southwest Missouri Hay Auction

A good crowd of buyers on hand with several new faces present on a hot July day for a mid-summer hay auction. Making hay this year has proven to be a difficult task. As of the latest data, excluding alfalfa, harvest is at 66% complete, 14 points behind last year and 10 points behind the five-year average. Moisture has been good for pastures however, as Missouri currently has the best pasture condition ratings of any of the major cattle states. This scenario that mother nature has given has resulted in a significant amount of hay being baled more mature and sometimes in less-than-ideal conditions needed to achieve top quality hay. The market reflected all the above as mediocre hay, in mediocre bales, only brings mediocre prices at auction. Given the amount of grass currently available and still a lot of optimistic attitudes no one is willing to pay premium prices to store hay that isn't of premium quality and as has been the case at auction test results that prove quality do pay for themselves. Once math was done round bales of Fair quality mixed grass 50-75 per ton, Fair to Good quality mixed grass mostly 75-115 per ton, Good quality grasses and mixed grass 100-125 per ton. No test this month on round bales of alfalfa. Medium and large square bales of Good to Premium grass and alfalfa 150-200 per ton, with one lot of brome selling at 228 per ton. Premium to Supreme Alfalfa at 260-280, with a couple of small lots of Supreme alfalfa from 330-370 per ton. Small square bales accounted for 2816 bales or 78% of the offering. The market for small squares is highly dependent upon quality and color as much of this hay is for equine interest and both are required to achieve top prices.