Which state leads in hay?
🔎 Skip to the answer (ranking table)Guess
Which states grow the most hay? Tap them most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→4 in order
I bet… Wisconsin — all those cows are hungry!
Answer
The real order is…
Texas produces about 1.93× as much as #2 Missouri!
📚 Background Hay is the giant harvest you never see in a grocery store — dried grass to feed cattle and horses. Almost every state grows it, and Texas, with its huge cattle herds, grows the most. (USDA NASS Quick Stats) (opens in a new tab)
🔍 Explore more: 🐐『Why Texas is goat country』→ I bet… Wisconsin — all those cows are hungry!
Compare
Hay (tons, by state, 2024)
Most: Texas (11,960,000 tons); least of this top group: California (4,640,000 tons).
Note: measured in tons. Only the top states are shown; ranks can shift between years. Only the top states are shown here — smaller producers (and states USDA doesn't publish) aren't listed.
Where things grow has a reason!
Recap
🏅 Today's discovery
🏅 Texas is the USA's #1!
🐕 States in Numbers
Quiz a friend!
📋 See the ranking table (top 8)
| Rank | State | Value | Share of U.S. total |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Texas | 11,960,000 tons | 9.8% |
| #2 | Missouri | 6,212,000 tons | 5.1% |
| #3 | Nebraska | 6,135,000 tons | 5% |
| #4 | Oklahoma | 5,895,000 tons | 4.8% |
| #5 | South Dakota | 5,840,000 tons | 4.8% |
| #6 | Kentucky | 5,000,000 tons | 4.1% |
| #7 | Montana | 4,815,000 tons | 3.9% |
| #8 | California | 4,640,000 tons | 3.8% |
| 🇺🇸 USA (total) | 122,462,000 tons | 100% |
Only the top states are shown here — smaller producers (and states USDA doesn't publish) aren't listed.
Figures are published for 49 states; this table shows the top 8.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (2024)
Sources
Data as of: 2024
USDA NASS Quick Stats: HAY - PRODUCTION, MEASURED IN TONS, 2024, by state (opens in a new tab) (2026-07-12) — Published estimates only. States with unpublished (suppressed) values are omitted.
↳ In Quick Stats, pick HAY / PRODUCTION in TONS, year 2024, and compare states.