Western Montana’s alfalfa-hay market slowed considerably in recent weeks, and prices are stagnant as a result, reports Brandon Flynn of Flynn Hay & Grain near Townsend.
“Hay has stopped moving right now,” he says. “Being the end of the year, a lot of the big dairies have their contracts for the year already filled.”
Flynn sells dairy-quality alfalfa in 4 x 4 x 8’ large squares for $200/ton at the stack and feeder hay that’s under 170 relative feed value (RFV) for $130-135/ton. His prices haven’t changed much from what they were in 2013.
Despite recent snow and cold weather, Flynn doesn’t expect alfalfa prices to rise much in the months ahead. That could change, he adds, if the winter remains harsh.
“If producers had to buy a bunch more hay, that could drive up the price a bit.”
Alfalfa yield and quality were higher than average, he says. “We had a warm fall and a long fall, so that helped our tonnage quite a bit. And the relative feed value was a lot higher than it normally is.”
Even so, many Montana growers dealt with rained-on hay. He was fortunate to avoid it, Flynn says.
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