THE trouble with the hay trade in southern Victoria is that dairy and beef farmers have reasonable dry paddock feed for cattle, yet sellers won't budge on price.
Very little hay is being traded, which is typical of a high production year.
While some areas of the northern Mallee and the Riverina are less fortunate, with low hay stocks, most fodder-production areas in Victoria have plentiful supplies.
An example of the price stand-off is West Gippsland, where there are large volumes of pasture hay in rolls.
The sellers are asking $50 a roll, or about $150 a tonne on farm, but cannot move it.
Many Gippsland pastures have dried off, but dairy farmers have good forage crops such as brassicas and millets for grazing, and maize for silage.
Further north, there are some grain growers in the Wimmera and Mallee who are first-time hay producers.
Although in spring the returns for hay looked attractive compared to grain, many producers are now unsure about their future sales.
Hay prices have fallen since cereal crops were cut for hay, as have grain prices.
There is an abundance of rain-damaged cereal or grass hay this season, yet generally a lighter supply of high-quality hay with more than 9.5 megajoules of metabolisable energy.
Hay merchants expect premiums for hay quality to be more pronounced during the peak demand periods of April to August.
By purchasing hay with higher energy and protein, dairy and beef farmers will be able to achieve nutritional benchmarks with lower levels of supplements.
Some good-sized parcels of cereal hay, of about 500 to 1000 tonnes, have been testing high in sugar content. Measured as water-soluble carbohydrates, results have varied between 20 and 38 per cent.
Some exporters won't consider oaten hay unless it is above 22 per cent WSC.
It appears this has come at the expense of protein. Some wheat hay with WSC of 25 per cent has tested at only 4 per cent for crude protein.
In a subdued market such as this, buyers can negotiate future delivery of high-quality hay, with payments made after delivery.
Cereal hay from the southern Mallee, with 12-plus ME, is being delivered into the Goulburn Valley at $175 a tonne.
