Hay Report - Cattle and Mutton export boom is good sign for Hay

You can now buy the FarmTender2023 - The Business of Farming video. Click here. All the interviews and presentations. Five and a half hours of Farming related takeaways for your business.

For the fortnight up to the 5th of April 2023.

By Dwain Duxson

Hay demand is higher in the areas where they stock heavier, eg, South West, Victoria, South East of SA. Gippsland was a bit like that, but they have had some rain in the last week, which might give them some relief.

On the planting side, there have been some Oats going in, and Vetch will be next. It's amazing how much Seed we have sold through the website in the last couple of months. As we mentioned a fortnight ago there has been plenty of Vetch Seed sold, so we are hopefully looking at a big Vetch Hay season ahead. Time will tell.

It's patchy out there, with some areas getting a green pick and other regions still very dry. There is some ripping pre-Easter weather around, and the sun still has some kick.

We are still seeing plenty of Hay Machinery and Equipment activity, more at this time of year than ever. With access limited to new Machinery, we see more out-of-season buying activity. It's been a real trend this year, and not only with Hay Gear.

It's good to see some positive activity in both the Sheep and Cattle game, with Mutton exports booming in February and March, which is starting to reflect in the Saleyards. Cattle are also doing something very similar. This augers well for these markets and affects the Feed Grains and Hay industry because the incentive is less to Feed Livestock that are cheap. It's a human nature thing.

Quality still remains the biggest issue with Hay, and we are seeing many choose Feed Grains over Hay. Beans, Lupins and Barley, have been the most popular Feed Grains sold.

What's happened to Hay prices over the last fortnight?

We cracked the $400 a tonne mark for Lucerne Hay with a parcel trading for $405. Most of the Lucerne Hay is trading for between $350 and $385 a tonne. 

Most Straw is selling for around $75 to $95 a tonne. But we did sell some really good Wheat Straw at $120 a tonne. 

We sold some decent Clover Hay at $350 a tonne.

We did sell some reasonably good Vetch Hay at $265 a tonne and a couple of other decent parcels at $250 and $255 a tonne. 

We made sales for Cereal Hay at between $145 and $165 a tonne.

We go around the grounds to see what our Farm Tender Salespeople have to say:

Paul Grayling - Mallee, Vic based

Paul said - The last fortnight, we have seen a rise in interest in Hay, Cereal Hay has started to be looked at, and Straw is also attracting some attention. As the weather cools down the job should lift as some areas are drying right off, and the lack of feed in the paddocks will need to be supplemented. Pricing shouldn't really do a lot as most of the better quality Hay available is already priced accordingly. I expect that good quality Hay will become harder to get hold of unless a bit is held back until the winter market heats up.

Shane Ruyg - Qld based

Shane said - Apart from some Straw and Cereal Small Square Bales moving, it was another quiet fortnight on the Hay job but word on the street is people are seeing more Trucks on the road with Hay and Straw, which is hopefully a sign of things to come.

Mike Pickard - Travelling around 

Mike said - Good sales of quality Clover and Lucerne Hay in the Riverina going into Central New South Wales. There were some small sales of Barley Straw happening in the Northern Victoria region. There is still interest in good quality Hay, especially Lucerne going to Queensland. A bit of a trend is Hay Machinery sales for the upcoming season. There is still a short shortage of good quality Hay with good feed tests.

Jim Oehms - Northern Country, Vic based

Jim said - Hay enquiries have started to pick up, and also getting a few new listings for a variety of Vetch and Lucerne Hay. Been chatting to a few, and they are wondering what will happen price-wise. I think some are sitting on theirs to see how the market will go.

End of message

For more information on selling or buying Hay contact the following:

Paul Grayling – 0447 069 082 or paulg@farmtender.com.au

Shane Ruyg – 0447 922 604 or shaner@farmtender.com.au

Mike Pickard – 0429 677 636 or mikep@farmtender.com.au

Jim Oehms -- 0481 102 288 or jimo@farmtender.com.au

Or 1300 Farming (1300 327 646)

Introducing Load Looper, the invention designed by Ian and Andrea Hamilton, who are Farmers at Tatyoon. Ian best describes how Load Looper works here. "Load Looper is a weighted ball device that attaches to a loading strap to carry the strap over the highest legal loads and simplify the loading process.

To watch a video on how it works or to buy Load Looper go to the website here.

Buy now, pay later for Hay! Try DelayPay today.