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Business & Tech

Rain Dealt Blow to Hay Production, Prices to Soar

Shortage will be most severe in November and December, said John Bellandi of Alamo Hay and Grain. Rescue groups dependent on donations are in crisis.

Local horse owners are facing a serious hay shortage that many of them are unaware of —unless they are running their own ranches or buying their own hay. The news is buried in the financial section of the newspapers and probably won’t hit the front pages until it’s critical.

Our long, cold, rainy winter made the hills green and filled our lakes and rivers to the brim, but also dealt a devastating blow to the state’s hay production.

For local horse people, this will mean a strain on family budgets. For horse rescue operations, it will be a crisis.

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Hay costs are rising significantly for three main reasons:

• California’s unusually wet, cold winter and spring

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• The drought and heat through the rest of the country

• A growing trend for farmers to shift from hay production to government-subsidized corn for ethanol use

For those involved in horse rescue, the hay situation in California is at a crisis point. Rescue groups depend on donations, and many sympathetic donors are stretched to the max trying to feed their own horses.

Some are even giving up their horses. It is a sad situation for which there is no easy solution.

If you are boarding at a local ranch, be patient and recognize that acquiring good hay at a reasonable price is a challenge. According to John Bellandi from , “…the hay situation is critical and will be more severe November through December. Eighty percent of the top hay typically goes to cattle ranchers, who are willing and able to pay top dollar … barn owners are having difficulty keeping costs down."

Become informed. Learn more about government-subsidized crops (such as corn for ethanol use) and how that affects farmers’ choices of what to grow. The Bloomberg report says, “The government said June 9 that, for the first time ever, more of the crop will be used to make fuel than animal feed.”

If you can, make a donation to a horse rescue group. You won’t regret it.

Any donation—no matter how small—will be deeply appreciated. There are many rescue groups; just Google "horse rescue. Choose a quality group with a good track record.

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