Texas direct hay report for Nov. 11

Compared to the last report: Hay prices are steady to firm in all regions. Hay demand is picking up as the majority of the pastures in the state are rated from average to very poor. Additionally, a cold front is moving into the area which will increase supplemental livestock feeding. Hay is still moving into the state from bordering states, but trucking and freight rates continue to be a struggle for producers and have had large impacts on delivered prices. According to USDA-NASS, winter wheat planting across the state reached 88 percent, up 5 points from the previous year. Winter wheat emergence has reached 67 percent, up 5 points from the previous year. Although rains have been scarce they’ve been pretty timely for the winter wheat crop thus far. The productivity of winter wheat crop will be very important for livestock producers as forages are predicted to be short this year.