Texas - Baled gold

Finding good hay in the middle of a drought is proving difficult for farmers and ranchers, leading to high hay prices, and the selling off of cattle around the state. “It’s been pretty high with the drought situation like it is,” said Kenneth Gladney, officer in charge of the Amarillo Market News Office for USDA. “Some of these people are getting half as much hay as they normally have, so it’s driven the price of hay higher.” The worst affected areas are the Panhandle, Central Texas and West Texas. North Texas and East Texas have been affected, but not as badly. Some areas of Texas haven’t gotten any significant rain in 2011. As a consequence, the drought is also pushing ranchers to sell off their cattle, either because they have no water left in stock tanks, or they anticipate not being able to feed the animals through the coming winter. Darrell Olsen, owner of Olsen Feed Store in Corsicana, was able to set aside 4,500 square bales of hay last year. This year that number is just 900. “I have been here for 30 years and this is by far the worst I have experienced,” Olsen said...more