From The Western Farm Press (Todd Fichette):
A report by Rabobank suggests Saudi Arabia will need 1.3 million tons of high-quality hay annually by 2019 as the kingdom faces water conservation measures that will force tighter restrictions on the production of domestic forages for animal consumption.
In 2016 the U.S. exported 288,000 tons of hay to the kingdom, or an estimated 65 percent of total Saudi hay imports.
The Rabobank report does not break down hay by variety. Even so, alfalfa remains the top hay type produced in California and Arizona. Of the 315,000 acres of hay produced in Arizona in 2016, 280,000 acres of that was alfalfa. California growers that year produced 720,000 acres of their total 1.2 million acres of hay.
For the U.S. to hold to this figure and the kingdom’s projected needs, American hay production will need to increase by 45 percent, year-over-year through 2019, according to James Williamson, dairy analyst with Rabobank in Fresno, Calif.
This need is contributing to Saudi Arabia’s penchant for real estate as the country seeks irrigated land elsewhere around the world to secure the forages it needs. Since 2014 one Saudi company has purchased more than 14,000 acres in Arizona and California to grow alfalfa and export it to its dairies in the Middle East.
Rabobank also projects that Saudi Arabia could bolster its forage supplies in general through long-term contracts or joint ventures in the West, and could help meet its demand for dry-cow hay by working with East Coast producers to grow lower-quality, dehydrated forages…
Rabobank projects demand from the top-six international importers – China/Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia – will continue to increase over the next five years. Saudi Arabia will likely lead the increased buying as water availability there forces continued water conservation efforts.
Under the tightening regulations, Saudi dairies that export milk will be forced to stop producing hay by 2018 and those that sell milk only for local markets will be required to reduce hay production by 2019, the Rabobank report states.
While Williamson focused on Saudi Arabia in his report, in a phone interview he mentioned China as another large buyer of American hay. In 2016 the U.S. shipped 1.275 million tons of hay to China and Hong Kong.