PROGRESSIVE FORAGE GROWER – With the 2016 hay growing and harvest season well underway, USDA’s annual acreage report indicated U.S. hay harvested area will be up from a year earlier. The report, released June 30, set estimated all hay acreage at about 56.1 million acres, up 2 percent compared with the 54.4 million acres harvested in 2015. Kansas all hay acreage was 2.4 million acres, down 2% from 2015’s 2.45 million acres.

Harvested area of all hay is expected to increase or hold steady in most southern and western states. Most significant declines are expected in the Northern Plains states. A record low for all hay harvested area is expected in Illinois, Iowa, New York and Rhode Island. Read More