Trends . . .  A  LOOK  AT  FORAGES, HAY  STOCKS  AND  PASTURE

USDA-NASS provided a bit of a surprise to the cattle, dairy and sheep industries with the reported May 1, 2008 hay stock numbers.  Following the January report, which had larger than expected U.S. hay stocks, the May 1 report also reported nationwide hay stocks above expectations (USDA estimates hay stocks based on surveys twice each year).  As of May 1^st, USDA estimated U.S. hay stocks were 21.6 million tons, up dramatically from the 15.0 million tons a year ago.  Also, based on the stocks reports, December through April U.S. hay usage was less than forecast.

BYRPODUCT  VALUES  RECORD  HIGH

USDA-AMS reports the byproduct value for steers, cows, and hogs which represents the total value for all non-meat items harvested from a slaughter animal such as the hide/skin, liver, and tallow.  Along with the total value, USDA-AMS also reports separate values for each non-meat item on a weekly basis.  Since the demand for such non-meat items among U.S. consumers is limited, many byproduct items are exported.  This year, byproduct values have been supported by spillover demand from the oil and feedstuff sectors.  The result was new record high byproduct values in March and more records are likely in 2008 and 2009.

VEAL  PRODUCTION  UPDATE

Since last year, there have been some rather apparent modifications within the U.S. veal sector.  In particular, calf slaughter has tended to increase and slaughter weights have declined.  Those changes are the result of surging corn costs.  But, calf slaughter is also reflecting the larger dairy cowherd in the U.S. (USDA reported that the number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major states in March was 141,000 head above a year ago).