Hay cost per ton in Wisconsin

Wisconsin's hay market is shaped by a short, intense growing season where dairy-quality alfalfa dominates the premium tier and grass or mixed hay fills the beef and horse market. Per the USDA AMS Upper Midwest Hay Report, large round bales of grass and mixed hay traded in the $180-$260 per ton range through 2024-2025, while supreme dairy alfalfa (RFV 185+) routinely cleared $260-$340 per ton at the Thorp auction and on farm-direct loads.

Cuttings and weather drive most of the price movement. UW-Madison Extension's Team Forage notes Wisconsin growers typically take 3-4 alfalfa cuttings per year, with first cutting in late May, second in early July, third in mid-August, and a fourth in September if rainfall cooperates. Wet springs in the Driftless and northern counties routinely rain on windrows and downgrade first-cutting quality, which is why dry, barn-stored second and third cuttings command the biggest premium - sometimes $60-$100 per ton over rained-on first crop.

For a rancher budgeting winter feed, the math is concrete. A 1,200 lb dry cow eating roughly 25 lb of hay per day over a 150-day Wisconsin winter consumes about 3,750 lb, or 1.875 tons per head. At a mid-market $210 per ton for decent round-baled mixed hay (USDA AMS Upper Midwest, 2025), that is roughly $394 per cow for the winter; at $260 per ton for higher-quality hay the bill climbs to about $488 per cow, before any waste factor (typically 10-20% for unrolled round bales fed without a ring).