Rain Dealt Blow to Hay Production, Prices to Soar

Local horse owners are facing a serious hay shortage, and unfortunately many of them are not aware of it yet—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 the excess 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 is a crisis.

Hay costs are rising significantly for three main reasons:

• California’s unusually wet, cold winter and spring

• The brutal 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 a crisis. Rescue groups depend on donations, and many sympathetic donors are now 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 SF Chronicle’s 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 have a little extra money to spare, please make a donation to a horse rescue group to help buy hay for the rescue horses. You won’t regret it.

Any donation—no matter how small—will be deeply appreciated by any rescue organization. There are a lot of them out there. If you Google "horse rescue," you will find many. Be careful to choose a quality group with a good track record. Do a little investigating to be sure that an organization is what it seems to be.

I have done on-site visits to one rescue group, Horses’ Honor Rescue, and can speak to the quality that they provide.

Horses’ Honor Rescue is one of the organizations that provide a permanent sanctuary for horses that have been rescued from abuse, neglect, abandonment and even kill auctions.

With the economy down, unemployment ongoing and horses increasingly difficult to maintain, it's likely that more people will continue to give up or even abandon their horses. The impending hay crisis will make the situation worse.

There is a core group of Castro Valley horse people who are working to raise money to help care for rescue horses. Horses’ Honor Rescue has developed a broad base of support throughout Castro Valley and the greater Bay Area.

Their website is designed and managed by Castro Valley horsewoman Janet Fischer. Public relations and outreach is managed by another long-time Castro Valley horse lover—yours truly.

Two (one led by Carolyn Vane and the other by Joellen Oslund) work to collect used tack and clean it for the annual tack-sale fundraiser.

Horse supply stores such as Western Saddlery, Vista Madera and Concord Feed as well as ranches throughout Castro Valley put out tubs to collect used tack.

To donate to Horses’ Honor Rescue, you can:

• Use Pay Pal on Horses’ Honors Rescue’s home page.

• Or, send a check in any amount to

   Horses’ Honor Rescue

   P.O. Box30072

   Walnut Creek, CA  94598-9072

Any donation that you can make to any rescue organization will be met with horse whinnies of deep appreciation.

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