The Hay Market - France

Hay is, according to laroussea dried forage, most often composed of alfalfa or timothy, intended for feeding herbivores. Drying mown grasses enables them to be kept longer, and therefore plays a role in feeding domestic herbivorous animals when grass is scarce in grazing areas (winter, drought, etc.). Its nutritional characteristics distinguish it for example, from straw, the nutrient-poor stalks of grasses separated from the grain during threshing. Its low moisture content (around 15% to 20%) also distinguishes it from ensiled grass, preserved by fermentation with a grass moisture content (around 35 to 45%). The hay market is therefore a sub-segment of the forage market. According to the Ministry of Agriculture's Statistics and Forecasting Department (AGRESTE), includes production from artificial grassland (sown with fodder legumes and cultivated for a maximum of 3 years), temporary grassland (sown with fodder grasses for less thansown for less than 6 years) and permanent grassland (sown or of natural origin, producing at least 1,500 forage units per hectare for more than 6 years). Temporary and permanent grasslands are intended to be mown, ensiled or grazed. In France in 2020, the market will be worth 8.04 billion euros. The hay market is also a sub-segment of the animal nutrition market, 52% of which comes from cereals (source: Businesscoot). It concerns farmed herbivorous animals (requiring human intervention for year-round feeding): ruminants (sheep, cattle, goats and buffalo) and non-ruminants (horses, donkeys, mules). Other trends in the use of hay are emerging: human cooking, mulching...