Dairy prices

Wheat is not the only commodity climbing in the black this year, The Idaho hay market has stayed steady all summer until last week when demand stepped up and prices were up as much as 30-40 dollars per ton: 

Market analyst Clark Johnston: ”Hay right now is in the eye of the beholder who needs it and what are you willing to pay for it," said Johnston. "One producer said, 'If I can get strings around a bale I can sell it. It doesn't matter what the quality is, or the test, dairies are going to buy it. That's what we are seeing right now. I had one producer tell me that he's not going to keep any hay to feed his own cow-calf operation he's going to figure something else out, just because of the fact that hay is a high price for him.”

 Johnston says Milk prices have held steady all summer, that trend will hold but demand is expected to go up in the fall. "I think we will see it stay steady just for the fact that demand will pick up as we go into the fall. The cheese fell off in the spring and that demand will pick back up and we will see a little more domestic usage go up with export demand on the cheese market. Milk prices will remain steady to a bit higher going into the new year," said Johnston.