What About Hay?
We seem to write mostly about the main three grain crops in the US (corn, beans and wheat) since they comprise a large portion of US Ag revenues.
However, there are several other very important crops that are harvested every year. One of those crops is hay.
I have reviewed the data from the USDA site and find the following:
- In 2011, total hay dollar volume was about $17.7 billion. There were only three states over $1 billion. California at $1.7, Idaho at $1.07 and South Dakota at exactly $1.0 billion in gross hay sales.
- Every state but Hawaii reported hay sales with Rhode Island being the smallest at $3.5 million. Even Alaska had over $6 million in hay sales.
- The top 10 states are all concentrated west of the Mississippi river.
- Peak hay sales occurred in 2008 with almost $19 billion of hay revenues. During the last 10 years, sales have ranged from a low of about $12 billion up to the $19 billion. 2008 was #1, 2011 was #2 and 2007 was # 3.
Hay is very important to the livestock and dairy industry and much of it is exported to other countries. This trend will continue.
Paul Neiffer CPA
Paul Neiffer is a certified public accountant and business advisor specializing in income taxation, accounting services, and succession planning for farmers and agribusiness processors. Paul is a principal with CliftonLarsonAllen in Walla Walla, Washington, as well as a regular speaker at national conferences and contributor at agweb.com. Raised on a farm in central Washington, he has been immersed in the ag industry his entire life, including the last 30 years professionally. Paul and his wife purchase an 180 acre ranch in 2016 and enjoy keeping it full of animals.
Nice post and Great information;-)