Modest Drop in Hay Area

WASHINGTON - Mar 31/08 - SNS -- Producers expect to harvest 60.6 million acres of all hay in 2008, down 2% from 2007, according to this year's USDA seeding intentions estimates.

Harvested area is expected to decrease from last year throughout most of the Great Plains, Southeast, and Southwest. The State with the largest expected decrease is Texas, down 390,000 acres from 2007. South Dakota and Nebraska are expected to be down 300,000 acres and 150,000 acres, respectively.

However, area for harvest in most States in the northern Great Plains, Western Mountain regions, and Northeast is expected to increase from 2007. The States with the largest expected increases from the previous year are North Dakota, up 120,000 acres, and Montana, Wyoming, Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, each up 50,000 acres. In the West, minor increases are expected in Oregon, Nevada, and California.

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