|
SW Ohio | Yes shortage here. Estimated 8000 horses in my county X 100 smalls each = 800,000!! We probably only make 200,000 county wide so we are net SOL. Beef guys (lots of 10-20-50 head herds around yet) are already in panic mode, pastures last fall got chewed down to nothing (horse paddocks are literally bare dirt) and every single cowman knows to the day when they will run out of hay, all are counting on turn outs first of April but spring looks late, could finish off those stressed pastures. Hasn't been much new hay planted here for years, some but not nearly enough. Local prices are (all in small squares, nobody does tons and big bales are always too cheaply priced) holding in the $6-8 range, hae heard of double digits but it is rare. New hay prices are unknown but I expect will start at $5 and go up from there. Several locals are hauling hay from Wisconsin, Michigan, anywhere they can find some, 2-4 semi loads a week, trucks are empty within a few hours of returning, others are hauling as fast as they can from NE Ohio. The larger horse stables , those with 50-200 horses seem to have a handle on the situation but the less than 10 crowd lives day to day, always have, boy are they in for a shock!!! Plans are already set to bale every large front yard, waterway, wasteland, etc.
Got calls last summer from all points south, KY, AR, FL so I assume hay is and will be short there as well, fuel costs alone dictate higher prices. Craigslist is loaded with horses for sale, no salvage value and $150 to bury em, what do you do? Sale barns put a deposit required on all equines brought in, have heard of people dumping horses at state parks, cow herds are already shrinking. Last fall lots of cornstalks got baled and so did double crop beans, now some are asking if I can bale up some wheat in May,OUCH.
IMHO hay prices nationwide should be following wheat and beans---to that new plateau. | |
|
Hay shortage in South?
