Ag equipment makers supplying hay tools and utility-sized tractors could see a boost in sales starting later this year as the dairy and hay markets see a turn around in production and prices.

Both markets have experienced a steep falloff in demand since late summer of 2008.

The good news for hay toolmakers is that the production and price of hay is expected to begin stabilizing in 2010 and follow a more normal cyclical pattern during the next decade.

At the same time, hay prices throughout the next 10 years aren't expected to get anywhere near the highs seen in 2008, according to a report issued by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri–Columbia.

The FAPRI report sees the 2009 all-milk price averaging near $13 per cwt, which is only approaching the breakeven price for much the dairy industry in the U.S.

The report states that assuming recovery in the U.S. and world economies, livestock and dairy prices will increase beginning in 2010.

Milk prices are expected to continue to rise throughout the next decade, approaching the highs seen in 2008 by 2018.