The boat ramp at Pelican Point Resort, a fishing camp on Lake Buchanan, in the community of Tow leads to a vast dry land on Friday, August 10, 2011.
Posted on 08/31/2011 6:35:25 AM PDT by stillafreemind
The severe drought started in Texas and now ranges up to southeast Iowa. Hay sought by farmers and ranchers for their cattle, and by homesteaders and horse lovers. Those people who have a horse or two or a handful of cattle, goats, or sheep are suffering as bad as the large producers. Why? Small hay bales that used to be $3.00 are selling for up to $9.50 in southeast Iowa. Large bales are well over $100.00 in places.
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Wow, that is why I saw so many farmers growing hay and alfalfa in Washington and Oregon instead of food crops...I was wondering
We finally got some rain yesterday, we’ve had 6 storms come within a county of us here in Lee. Glad we had all that soil moisture from the spring or it would have been worse.
Texas could use an Irene, that moves slowly up the Texas coast, then curves N on a path from Austin to OKC.
I just bought and stored 84 square bales of hay for my horses for $9.00 a bale. I bring in 1 round bale a week at $80.00 a bale. I have stored the square bales for the coming fall and winter as I know the prices will go higher....if you can even get hay by that time.
Its killing me. I can’t sell my horses....they are like family. I have 26 acres of pasture, more than enough to feed my horses with out hay until November (here in E. TX), I had to start hunting for hay at the end of June.
Interesting. We’ve been hit by the drought in Kansas - at least 20 days over 100 degrees also.
However, I just paid what I always pay for small bales ($5 for 75ish lb bale).
I asked my supplier if he had seen an increase in round bale prices...he said no.
I think the price hike will likely occur this winter. I also think we may see alot of cattle slaughtered early...causing a scarcity and rise in beef prices in the future...but that activity would also keep hay prices stable.
I’m sure in some local areas, it has rocketed up...but I wouldn’t bank on a large scale price rise.
I feel so bad for Texas residents! Nothing will rip the guts out of ya like running your herd through a sale barn. I don’t think non livestock owners understand what that does to a person.
I read that livestock farmers are selling herds off in droves. So much so that some sale barns have had to turn animals away because they just had too many at once.
Like the article says, it takes a couple of years to get steers to the butcher. These guys are selling off breeding stock too. That means we could see some really high priced meat before the herds get replenished. Oh wait..I’m sure we could chew on some imported meat!?!?!?
***Nothing will rip the guts out of ya like running your herd through a sale barn. I don’t think non livestock owners understand what that does to a person.***
I sold my cattle several years back. I took them to the salebarn when the price was high. When I returned home, I noticed the emptyness of the field and felt a loss, and became depressed for a while.
The boat ramp at Pelican Point Resort, a fishing camp on Lake Buchanan, in the community of Tow leads to a vast dry land on Friday, August 10, 2011.
I read that beef was being slaughtered and a glut of it was hitting the stores.
Haven’t seen it on sale in my area.
Well, with inflation what it is, I guess these prices are the sale.
Awful.
Why couldn’t Irene have hit Texas instead? Considering the damage was relatively light, I think it would have been a net plus for Texas to have all that rain.
I am hoping not many more people move here. We are running out of water in Texas.
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