We've scoured our printed magazines and newspapers, as well at the Web, to bring you a few chosen words from around the country.
"A good gauge to watch will be the wheat prices. If prices are more attractive for wheat than hay, there would be no reason to put hay back in, especially with the crash of 2009 fresh in farmers' minds." – Hay grower Frank Maricle, writing in a recent post on his Central Oregon Hay blog. Maricle reports that horse-quality orchardgrass hay is selling for $200-240/ton in his part of the country. Read the entire post.
"This is probably the worst year for low hay supplies I have ever seen. Practically every patch of standing weeds or forage was cut and baled, with much of it going out of state to the west."– John Jennings, University of Arkansas Extension forage specialist, commenting on the continuing drought situation in his state. Source: University of Arkansas Extension News Service.
"It's horrible. Even if it starts raining, it's going to take so long for the land to recover." – Texas rancher Don Casey, commenting on how the effects of the drought could extend beyond this year. Source: New York Times.