This will be an expensive crop with some of the poorest pricing in years. In northwest GA and the mountains, rains delayed spring hay harvest of tall fescue so quality is poor but at least they made a good amount of hay. Since then, rains have been less than normal but still there has been enough to keep pastures in fairly good shape. However, things get worse as one goes further south. South GA made only one hay harvest this spring and this is not enough to furnish hay for winter.
Pastures are short but have generally supplied enough to get by without much hay feeding so far.
However, in some areas of east GA and SW GA the drought has been for so long that pastures are completely exhausted and hay feeding has been going on for quite awhile. Some cattle producers have been selling off animals. A few isolated showers have come in places but general rains of 4 to 5 inches are needed to do any good. Dryland silage corn is a complete loss and even irrigated corn yields will be off some because of the high temperatures and inability to supply enough water. At this time, it appears that winter hay prices will be considerably higher than normal.