Hay Prices Highest Va. Auctioneer Has Seen in 14 Years

GAY BROWNLEE
Virginia Correspondent

HINTON, Va. — The prices for hay are higher than auctioneer Tom Weaver has seen in the last 14 years.

“I have three times as many (interested buyers) coming from south of here,” Weaver said prior to conducting the Rushville Hay Auction here in Rockingham County this Wednesday.

Weaver said prices for small square bales of good hay, to now, had been selling from $5 to $6.50 at the auction.

Prices were even higher this week, according to a state official who grades hay every first and third Wednesday of the month at the Rushville Hay Auction. At the conclusion of Wednesday’s sale, Mike Carpenter of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), said this auction was different.

“The hay was higher than two weeks ago,” Carpenter said. “There’s more interest in buyers — one of the larger crowds we’ve had here — particularly horse people.”

Carpenter said that on the small square bales the auction saw prices $1 to $1.50 per bale higher than two weeks ago.

The crowd was larger than normal, indeed, because among the agricultural community, for whatever reason, the interest is keen to monitor hay prices.

Dennis Morris said the hay he bought at the auction was the best of any on Wednesday. The large square bales of alfalfa went for $113 per bale, but since it was for his dad’s high-profile horses near Roanoke, Morris made the strategic decision to go for the top-notch product to potentially reduce waste, although it’s their first experience with the larger bales.

Before Wednesday, Weaver said that the cost of hauling the hay can shoot the price up to $7 or $8 per small square. That’s a high price for buyers who come from places such as Wytheville, which is several hours to the southwest of Rockingham County.

The hay quality in the Shenandoah Valley is good. The problem is the short supply, owing to the worrisome and extended drought. Folks are improvising with other forms of feed, like fodder, to help out.

Terry Martin, a beef farmer who cash crops hay and is well-respected for producing top quality hay in Shenandoah County, said he is very concerned about the hay situation in relation to his Angus beef seedstock operation. He’s been working to build the business and is wrestling with decisions about how to ride out the drought.

“We are a little confused what to do next,” Martin said. “I have too many cows for the hay I have. If it would just start raining, the moisture could extend the grazing season another month.”