Pricing Standing Forage in the Field

Aug. 2, 2019
Field of sorghum sudangrass

Author: Mark Sulc

Question: How do I set a price to buy a standing hay  or haylage crop still growing in the field?

Answer:  How to value a standing hay crop is challenging.  Assigning an appropriate value includes the buyer and seller agreeing on the market value for the hay and then adjusting for harvest costs and other factors that contribute to the price of hay sold in the open market, some of which are challenging to quantify.

A new factsheet and Excel worksheet are available to help you arrive at a fair price. These resources consider just a single crop of forage that is ready to harvest as hay or haylage. The grower’s base price equals the price they could receive for the crop from the hay market less harvesting/storage/marketing costs.  Hopefully, this covers production costs and generates a profit.  During price negotiations, it must be recognized that harvest risk is being shifted from the grower to the buyer, which should be applied as a further discount against the price paid by the buyer. Determining the market price of the harvested forage type that is growing in the field is perhaps the hardest part of the process. The adjustments to that price are a little more straightforward.

For full details, click on this website's tab "Forage Management - Forage Economics" and look for the two NEW resources highlighted. or go directly to them using the following urls:

The following links provide details on how to calculate the value of forages in the field, considering the seller and buyer perspectives:

Detailed explanation for pricing perennial cool-season hay and annual warm-season grasses standing in the field – go.osu.edu/standinghayprice

Worksheet tool to calculate the maximum price the buyer should pay for standing perennial cool-season hay and annual warm-season grasses in the field– go.osu.edu/standinghayprice-tool

Detailed explanation for pricing oat or spring triticale haylage standing in the field - https://go.osu.edu/standingoatforageprice

Worksheet tool to calculate price of oat or spring triticale haylage standing in the field - https://go.osu.edu/standingoatforageprice-tool