Hay is in short supply in many areas of the United States this winter. And market demand is hot for Iowa hay. Eastern Iowa is about the only place left that has much of a supply of hay for sale. USDA released a report last month that estimates hay stocks in the United States are at an 18-year low.

Buyers are coming into Iowa and are bidding strongly, says a spokesman for Dyersville Sales Company, which holds a hay auction every Wednesday at its northeast Iowa livestock sale barn.

Sale manager Dale Leslein says that for sales on Feb. 14, the price of large round bales of hay were steady compared to the week before. Large square bales were higher. And, out-of-state buyers out numbered the local Iowa buyers. "We need more big square bales," he says. "If you want to sell your hay, call me."

Top price on large square bales on Feb. 14 was $137.50 a ton on hay that tested 155 relative feed value. The bulk of the trade was $92.50 to $130 a ton.

Good hay is fetching good prices

At the Ft. Atkinson Hay Auction last week, according to manager Bob Humpal, hay sold to buyers from as far away as Tennessee, Oklahoma and Colorado. The market was excellent and higher. Over half of their hay sold from $90 to $165 a ton. That $165 was third cutting alfalfa in small square bales. That was the highest price they had for any hay at that auction location last week.

Prices on the large square bales went as high as $125 a ton at Ft. Atkinson. Hay is evaluated greatly on the quality of that hay. "The buyers for dairies and horses really like hay to be green and leafy and have a high RFV," says Humpal.