Madison County continues to rank in the top 3 in the state of Kentucky for hay with approximately 43,600 acres produced. To help market local hay, the Madison County Extension ANR agent and the Madison County Fair Board partnered to coordinate a regional hay auction at the county fairgrounds.

On Saturday January 18th, 2025 our 18th annual hay auction took place with 96 lots of hay and straw offered for sale. The Madison County ANR agent coordinated some deliveries, and load out, and provided radio, newsletter and social media advertisements. Fair board members and the ANR agent weighed bales and calculated their average weight. Prior to each lot of hay being sold, the weight and quality test results for some lots previously tested through a local hay contest were announced to buyers. Note: most hay was not tested this year due to extreme cold and snow covered roads. It was not safe for the KDA mobile testing unit or their employee to travel.

Approximately $76,000.00 dollars of hay was sold in the auction by 22 producers from 5 Kentucky counties. Buyer attendance this year was again excellent and bidding was very active. Hay was much more abundant than the previous year and price was considerably less, particularly for cattle quality hay. Average prices were: $34.52/round bale (non-alfalfa), $76.70/round bale alfalfa, $7.93/small square (non-alfalfa), $9.76/small square alfalfa.

Our annual hay auction serves several purposes. Most importantly, it allows an opportunity to educate producers about the need for hay testing while bringing buyers and sellers together in the marketplace where local price discovery can occur. Many farmers in the region reference our auction sale prices when placing a value on their own hay. This auction supplies much needed feed for livestock in Madison and surrounding counties, especially in years of short supply such as this one.

On March 27^th, the Madison County ANR agent travelled to the Whitley County Extension Office to speak to their Cattlemen’s Association about our experiences with the hay auction and about how they could possibly start their own.