Hay cost per ton in Wyoming

Wyoming is a two-cutting state across most of its irrigated valleys, with a possible light third cutting in the Big Horn and Goshen county bottoms in warm years. The short season and cool nights produce dense, leafy alfalfa that tests well on RFV, which is why Wyoming supreme alfalfa has historically moved at $280-$320 per ton to dairy buyers in Idaho and Utah according to USDA AMS Torrington hay reports for 2025.

Rainfall is the single biggest driver of the price range. Most of Wyoming averages only 10-16 inches of precipitation per year, so dryland grass hay yields swing hard with June moisture. In the 2024-2025 marketing year USDA AMS reported large round bales of grass and grass/alfalfa mix trading in a $185-$245 per ton range at Torrington, with premium small squares of alfalfa pushing into the $260-$300 band when irrigation water ran short on the North Platte.

For a rancher budgeting winter feed, the math is straightforward. A 1,200 lb dry cow eats roughly 25 lb of hay per day through a 120-day Wyoming winter, which works out to 3,000 lb or 1.5 tons per head. At the midpoint $215 per ton large-round price, that is about $322 of hay per cow per winter, and closer to $450 per cow if she has to eat premium alfalfa. University of Wyoming Extension bulletin B-1384 (2024) uses the same 25 lb/day dry matter benchmark for planning winter hay needs.