Victorian farmers swing to hay for fodder needs after soggy 2022

Large parts of Victoria endured a wet 2022, meaning hay is back as the fodder of choice this year. Check out the latest stats here.

A dry finish to the season means hay is back in favour after a soggy 2022, industry observers say, with high prices across most regions.

Fodder figures from Dairy Australia’s latest situation and outlook report highlight double — even triple percentage figure jumps for hay — after Victoria’s springtime drenching postponed hay harvesting for most farmers.

Gippsland’s average price for shredded cereal hay was $261 per tonne, according to Australian Fodder Industry Association figures, a 161 per cent mark up on this time last year.

The Goulburn-Murray region paid $305 per tonne for shredded cereal hay in January, a 61 per cent mark up over the same 12 month survey period.

Southwest Victorian farmers also paid $305 per tonne on average, according to the latest surveyed period, a 52 per cent mark up.

Victorian Farmers Federation grains council president Craig Henderson said he expected there to be “a swing back to hay this year” after weather limited production last season.

“People couldn’t do it last year. With the weather, people didn’t lay oats down because of the high likelihood of getting weather damage and being very poor quality,” he said.

“They’re talking about a dry finish (this season). Hay handles a dry finish better than, say, canola or wheat.”

Mr Henderson planned to plant more than 1000ha of oaten hay on his Berriwillock property this season and said he expected other farmers to make a similar bet on the dry forecast.

“We’ve got a little bit of reservation about how the year is going to finish up because of the forecasts, so we’re running a bit more fallow, a bit more hay, and taking the more expensive crops out of the rotation.”

He said prices for hay at the moment were “not too bad”, sitting in the high $200 for grade 2 or 3 quality hay.

Hay production was dampened across Victoria in 2022. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Rutherglen farmer Ashley Fraser said he didn’t harvest any hay or straw last season.

“We normally do a little bit of clover, a little bit of lucerne and a reasonable amount of cereal to supply our own needs,” he said.

“In September, we just got so much rain, you couldn’t do hay. You couldn’t get it cured, you couldn’t get it in a bale, so everything went through to harvest.”

“After harvest, we had carry-over, so we didn’t bother (trying to harvest straw).”

Dairy Australia industry analyst Eliza Redfern said the 2022 floods brought a great deal of uncertainty to the fodder market.

“Prices rose significantly in January for most hay types, and that brought an end to the two-year run of stable pricing,” she said.

“The start to 2023 also saw higher than usual demand for purchased feed because many farmers were unable to produce homegrown fodder to a standard they’d usually expect.”