For the beginning of the hay crop year, May 1, U.S. hay stocks were down 13.4 percent year over year and were down 26.4 percent from the ten-year 2012-2021 average.
Compared to the ten-year average, in Kansas, May 1 hay stocks were down 25.5 percent; Nebraska was down 51.6 percent; Oklahoma was down 62.3 percent; and Texas was down 41.3 percent.
Collectively, these four states account for 25 percent of U.S. May 1 hay stocks on average. In 2023, these four states accounted for 18.7 percent of total May 1 hay stocks and are down by 44.9 percent compared to the ten-year average for the four-state total.
