I am not sure that any other location in the US, is such an ulcer-provoking, stressful, and worrisome place. At least in the Lower 48, there is hay to be found. Might have to travel a few states, but it's available somewhere!
Up here, the situation is pretty grim. With our economic boom continuing, more and more hay fields are converted to cookie cutter starter home subdivisions. This is particularly true in the Matanuska Valley, I get to all the new subs every year. Not many folks are putting lands into hay production-a few farms are going in up towards Talkeetna, but not nearly enough to satisfy the demand for horse hay. I figured out once, years ago, that it takes roughly 2 to 4 acres of hay to provide for just one horse-120 bales over the course of a winter until the next cutting. Of course there are tons of variables-density of crop, weather, fertilization, size of bales, etc, but most importantly-whether or not a second cutting is put up.
This is why people are bringing in 100s of tons of imported hay-not enough produced locally to meet the demand. It's also why feed stores do a land slide biz in hay, year round.
Folks guard their hay supply jealously here, and I am one of them. I have a really good connection to one farmer and I adore his stuff-love to have a bunch in my barn. And this, despite the fact I bring in up to 50 tons a month of imported, lol! This year, if I was buying strictly local hay, I would be guzzling Pepto and likely grey haired and on sedatives...this is the second poor year in a row for local farmers and it's going to be a bad winter for a lot of horses owned by folks on the edge of financial disaster. Even though it's been a long time since I put up hay myself, I am getting real nervous about what this winter will bring.
Which leads me to this: If the cost of hay is through the roof, WHY aren't horse prices reflecting this? WHY are horse prices so artificially high?
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