A CONSISTENT flow of hay trucks into southwest Victoria and the southern Wimmera is an encouraging sign for the market.
To some, this will illustrate demand for hay while for others it is simply a sign hay sellers are meeting the market in order to gain some cash flow.
Hay trucks are a rare sight in Gippsland, with 40-60mm of rain received this month, freshening paddock feed.
There is a steady supply of local hay available in Gippsland.
Central Gippsland sellers are asking about $200 a tonne on farm for cereal hay and $80 per roll, or $290 a tonne of dry matter, for pasture silage.
In general, hay sellers are waiting for demand for hay to improve and would like to see prices lift from the current low levels.
They expect limited pasture growth during the colder months and anticipate little hay and silage remaining on dairy farms.
With the change of seasons and cooler nights, lucerne producers are on their last cut of hay.
Some lucerne producers in northern Victoria have cut their stands four times this year, well short of the normal five or six cuts.
Restrictions of irrigation water and the lower channel height for water delivery has lead to longer irrigation times and extended water logging for lucerne plants. It has resulted in loss of yield and lucerne plants.
Like their counterparts in the north, southern lucerne producers are cutting their lucerne for the last time this season.
As curing conditions are further restricted around Romsey and Lancefield, this final cut is intended to be ensiled rather than dried for hay.
Known as the "King of Forages" throughout the world, there is a marked difference for quality in the lucerne hay market.
At the commodity end of the market, lucerne hay for the dairy industry has been selling for about $200 a tonne on farm around Kerang and Swan Hill.
This price has remained flat throughout summer.
As buyers are buying their lucerne locally, the delivered prices shown in our tables have come back $10 a tonne this week.
Lucerne-hay prices for ruminant animals have been restrained this year by competition from vetch hay, low dairy demand and increased production from seed producers returning to hay production.
The poorest-quality lucerne hay with severe weather bleaching has been selling as cheaply as $120 a tonne on farm in South Australia's South East.
The market for lucerne for the equestrian market is a different story. Chaff millers have been paying as much as $300-$350 a tonne delivered to Melbourne mills for top-quality lucerne hay.
