Other Hay Output Rises

WASHINGTON - Oct 12/07 - SNS -- Production of hay other than alfalfa is forecast at 75.6 million tons in the United States this year, up slightly from the August forecast and up 8% from 2006, according to the latest USDA crop estimates.

Based on October 1 conditions, yields are expected to average 1.87 tons, the same as the August forecast but up 0.09 ton from last year. Harvested area, at 40.3 million acres, is unchanged from August but up 2% from the previous year.

Compared with the previous forecast, growers in the southern and central Great Plains, Gulf Coast, Michigan, and New York are expecting higher yields. Hay fields in Texas and Oklahoma benefitted from abundant rainfall and producers are expecting record level yields. Yields are forecast to remain unchanged from August in most of the Corn Belt but declined from the last forecast in the Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains, middle Atlantic Coast, Ohio Valley, and Tennessee Valley. Pennsylvania showed the largest decrease in yield from the previous forecast, down 1.2 tons.

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