September here in Alaska has always been one of my favorite months. Its that time when flying insects disappear, the trees begin their rapid slide into dormancy, and the mornings become cool and sometimes foggy. It rains, we have sunny breaks, and residents begin working in earnest to prepare for the winter months ahead.
For horse owners, that means trying to secure a good bit of a winters supply of hay.
I don't recall that it has ever been so challenging, not ever. The rainy pattern has continued right on into fall-and I don't see any signs of the jet stream moving, taking along these low pressure systems with it. Naturally, this has made it impossible for most farmers to get a second cutting. In fact, I heard over the weekend that one farmer never even got a *first* cutting! And that's a farm that puts up 1000s of squares too. There just is not much horse quality hay, anywhere, and what is available is very expensive due to the rising costs of producing it this year. I feel very fortunate to have the quantity of local hay that I do-many were counting on second cutting to fill their barns.
For months, I have been telling people to be prepared-the prices of imported hay and grains is going to skyrocket. This is due to information I know about the hay production situation in the Columbia basin, and what is really happening with hay down in the PNW. I have mentioned here before that a number of farms are converting to more profitable crops-such as wheat and soybeans-instead of going for second or third cuttings of hay. Voila! There is a shortage of hay on the open market. Anderson Brothers, the largest hay broker in the NW, will not ship hay to any person who is not already an established customer. They don't have any excess to sell, and even if they could get some, the prices are up at least $60 to $80 a ton at the farm. Then add in that fuel surcharge I have been talking about, and there you go. Its priced right where I thought it would be.
One particular reader here takes great issue with my bringing in this hay-even going so far as to whine about it on Craigslist, calling me a cheat and that I rip people off. I wonder what she's saying now that it is common knowledge that imported hay from Washington state is.......
Ready for this?
Sitting down?
Set your beverage down too, okay?
A whopping $630 a ton on Craigslist (no I have no idea who that is, sorry!) and is $41 a bale at the local feed store!!! For a 100 pound bale, that works out to how much??
Eight hundred dollars a ton!
Yep, you read correctly....if that isn't catastrophic, I don't know what is. I don't know many people who are able to handle this without a blink-it's very scary, and with tight or nonexistent local hay supply, this is going to be a really rough winter for a lot of horses.
And that's the thing that my ever-so-vigilant critic/enemy/nemesis does not seem to grasp. I don't do this hay thing only for myself. I don't do it to make a bunch of money (as I already posted here, its not exactly profitable to do it). I don't do it for ego, or for reputation, or for power or anything else.
I do it for the horses.
That's it, pure and simple....its the horses that need to eat, regardless of whats happening with bank accounts and the economy. Its horses that rely on our pitiful harvest this year. Its horses that depend on their owners to find something, anything to keep from starving. With local hay already being in the mid $400 range for squares off the field....my $575 a ton is not so bad. At least this hay is DRY, with no mold, no gravel road dust, no weeds, no debris, nothing but beautiful grass with wonderful digestibility, protein content, etc. Its every bit as good as what Anderson Brothers ships offshore to Dubai, Japan, Indonesia, etc-which is where the premium hay goes anyway.....Alaska gets second or third grade in the feed stores.
Naturally as this is sinking in, other changes are happening too-although probably not enough, quickly enough. Some people still have unreasonable expectations about what their horses will sell for (because they are NOT selling, yet). But I am seeing a few, here and there, under $1000. I got offered a free horse over the weekend as it happens-but I cannot take in that particular horse, even if my heart sats otherwise.
It's going to be a long winter.
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