Hay & forage

Read this across a row, never down a column. Nationally the grades do not rank cleanly against each other — fair/good hay can average more than good hay — because the mix of classes behind each grade differs. Quality only prices sensibly inside one class, and even then a lightly traded grade can sit out of order. Cells under 60 tons are shown as a dash rather than a price, since one consignment is not a market.

SUM(price × tons) ÷ SUM(tons) — not an average of quotes. Lots run from about 30 to 475 tons, so treating a small load and a semi-load as equal votes would let a handful of little consignments set the price. Priced per ton only. USDA also quotes hay by the bale — 309 lots across 16 states in this window — a different unit, not mixed in here. A 45-day window is used because hay is reported weekly or fortnightly and not by every state every week.

States under 250 tons or fewer than four lots in the window are left out — Wyoming set a $330 average off three loads before that floor. The twelve most expensive of 16 are shown.

Markets report on their own schedules, so this takes each market's most recent report within three weeks rather than one date. Heavy receipts usually mean hay is moving off farms; light ones mean it is being held.

Alfalfa only, all grades, weighted by tonnage. Months with under 200 tons reported are left out.