According to the USDA Cattle on Feed report published Oct. 25, total U.S. inventory of cattle on feed for the slaughter market on Oct. 1 was 11.6 million head, a slight drop from the same report in 2023.

Preliminary data shows 2023 hay production and inventories are up from a year ago.

The USDA today announced that it will begin issuing more than $1.75 billion in emergency relief payments to eligible farmers and livestock producers.

The USDA is announcing a second round of payments for dairy producers through the Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program (ODMAP), providing an additional $5 million to help dairy producers mitigate market volatility, higher input and transportation costs, and unstable feed supply and prices that have created unique hardships in the organic dairy industry.

The USDA is accepting offers for nearly 2.7 million acres from agricultural producers and private landowners through this year’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Grassland sign-up.

There’s still time and weather to impact cropping plans, but early indications are that acreage devoted to dry hay production will rebound slightly in 2023.

Here’s Progressive Forage’s monthly look at factors impacting hay markets for January 2023.