Hay Growers Got the Worst of Both Worlds
By Jon Paul Driver, Hay Kings
Hay producers sit in the gap between commodity and specialty agriculture — and somehow carry the burdens of both.
On the commodity side, hay lacks the safety nets other major crops enjoy. No base acres, no reference price, no futures market, and no real crop insurance that reflects quality or price. We absorb the full shock of fertilizer, fuel, and freight costs without policy protection.
On the specialty side, we face the same quality and marketing pressures as fruit or nut growers. We chase premium markets, maintain storage, and sell directly to buyers who demand consistency. Yet hay receives none of the federal marketing or research funding available to those crops.
This mismatch leaves hay growers squeezed from both directions — managing volatility like grain farmers but competing in fragmented markets like produce growers. Add the cost of specialized equipment, and hay becomes one of the most capital-intensive crops in agriculture, often with the thinnest margins.
And too often, hay farmers lose out by not participating in public policy discussions. A desire to “keep government out of hay farming” has too often looked like an ostrich with its head in the sand — hoping that if we ignore policy, it won’t affect us. But it always does. Our absence from the table hasn’t kept government out of our business; it’s simply kept hay farmers out of the decisions that shape it.
🌾 1. Commodity Side – No Safety Net
Hay is a massive crop by acres, but it’s not treated like one:
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No base acres.
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No reference price.
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Limited crop insurance tools (PRF doesn’t stabilize price or quality).
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No futures market or price discovery.
So you get all the input volatility of row crops — fuel, fertilizer, freight — without any policy or market protection.
🐴 2. Specialty Side – No Premium Stability
At the same time, hay functions like a specialty crop:
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Demands quality, storage, and marketing.
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Requires equipment capital like a manufacturing business.
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Relies on niche buyers — dairies, horse owners, exporters.
But hay doesn’t get specialty crop support either: no USDA Market Orders, no promotion dollars, no research funding comparable to fruit or nut crops.
So you get all the marketing and quality risk of specialty crops — with none of the branding help.
💸 3. The Middle Gets Crushed
Hay growers operate in the gap between:
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Policy designed for corn and soybeans, and
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Programs designed for fruits and vegetables.
You’re treated like a bulk commodity when it comes to regulation, but like a specialty crop when it comes to costs and labor.
That’s why margins are thin, cash flow swings hard, and expansion usually means chasing risk, not profit.
⚙️ 4. And the Equipment Burden
Balers, rakes, mergers, stackers — none of it’s cheap. Yet hay rarely pays depreciation the way grain equipment can through volume or custom work. So a hay grower often owns more iron per acre than any other farmer — but earns less per dollar invested.