SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 2007
Monday Edition: Hay Shortage
Lots of factors -- from summer
drought, wildfires and now a
severe winter in the West -- are contributing to a hay shortage that may lead to a
sell-off of some cattle herds. A bale of high-quality hay that usually is worth
three-and-a-half bucks now could bring $10 a bale.
KTEN –TV in Okalahoma says a large roll of hay worth $35 to $45 now brings $90. I have seen
similar
reports from Oregon.
We talked about how a hay shortage might happen this winter
in an August column.
The
Huntsville (Ala.) Times reports:
Regional
Extension Agent Jerry Thompson said he does not know where to find a single
bale of hay for sale in North Alabama.
Thompson
works with cattle farmers across the region and they are all trying to find an
answer to that question. The summer drought means farmers have about half the
normal supply of hay they need to feed their livestock.
Thompson
said he cannot remember a winter where the hay supply was so short.
"This
one is fairly dramatically worse than other shortages we've seen,"
Thompson said. "It's normally more localized, but this is statewide and
even more than statewide.
"I
don't remember the last time that it was this bad."
The
Associated Press says:
A
hay shortage, the result of wildfires that ravaged Oklahoma early in 2006, may lead to more
cases of animal starvation in the state, state agriculture experts say.
The
wildfires burned more than 850,000 acres of grazing land and caused Oklahoma to lose more
than 60 percent of its hay stock. Rising hay prices, fueled in part by higher
transportation costs, mean some farmers have to make hard decisions when it
comes to feeding their animals, said state Department of Agriculture, Food and
Forestry spokesman Jack Carson.
Some
farmers, Carson
said, are planning to sell portions of their herds because of the food
shortage, because the animals aren't worth keeping financially if there isn't
enough food to keep them healthy.
Others,
he said, aren't feeding their animals enough food, or even at all.
Last
month, Grant County authorities found seven starving
horses and more than 40 animal carcasses on a farm. Sheriff Roland Hula said
the animals had eaten all the grass and had taken to eating sticks and rocks.
A
lack of high-quality hay likely will affect horses more than other farm
animals, said Steven Cooper, an assistant professor of animal science at Oklahoma State University.
Cattle and goats can make better use of low-quality foods, he said, because of
the way they digest.
He
said that some farmers already are feeding their cattle corn stalks instead of
hay.
"No
one is going to call the police to complain about a starving cow," Cooper
said.
Some
horse owners also are trying to sell their animals because of the increased
costs of hay, Cooper said. An alfalfa bale that might usually cost $3.50 could
sell for up to $10 this year, he said.
Here is a
quick place to find people who have hay to sell. You can see people in every state who are
offering or have offered hay for sale. Those who have offered hay for
sale list their phone numbers, which makes it easy to find hay farmers
near you.
Farm Machinery More Valuable
This article on Agriculture Online
interested me.
It details how used farm equipment, from tractors to combines
and planters, are not getting less valuable with age, as you might expect. The
value of this machinery is actually rising with time. This story would be very
appealing to many of you in rural areas. I suspect many of you also have farm-machinery auctions near you.
Port Security
In
Miami yesterday, three men were arrested for trying to enter the city's port without the required paperwork. Port security has been a national issue for years, because it
impossible to examine the contents of every container that comes in or out.
Recently, federal
legislation took effect that requires port workers nationwide to purchase a
high-tech security card. The card will cost truck drivers, longshoremen and others
$159 each. You can imagine how thrilled they are with that idea.
The Portland (Maine) Press Herald
reports:
Some workers will have to buy the
cards as soon as March. But a time has not been specified for port operators
and ship owners to buy the equipment that reads the cards, according to a rule
announced Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security.
The agencies issuing the cards --
the Coast Guard and Transportation Security Administration -- still have to
test the card readers and decide on specifications.
"We're going to be paying $139 to $159 and we don't
know how they work?" said Steve Stallone, spokesman for the San
Francisco-based International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
TSA chief Kip Hawley said the
government's main interest is port security. Until card readers are installed,
Coast Guard patrols will conduct random checks of the cards with handheld
devices, he said.
The cards were first ordered by
Congress in 2002 as a way to strengthen security at seaports, considered
vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
What Does All This Warm
Weather Mean?
The
Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal says clothing stores are hating the much-warmer-than-normal December and January weather because they are having trouble
moving winter merchandise.
The cherry blossoms are blooming in D.C., and it is 80 degrees
here in Florida.
There are some predictions that 2007 may be the warmest year on record. Read
more from The Washington Post.
The Weather Channel
said this weekend:
By
Saturday afternoon, around three dozen daily records were either tied or broken,
including Boston; New York;
Newark, [N.J.]; Philadelphia
and Washington, D.C. In fact, all-time highs for the month
of January were set in Albany, N.Y., and Hartford, Conn. Albany's
high Saturday was roughly 40 degrees above the daily average high! This was
warmth more typical of April or early May! Joggers were able to work out in New York's Central Park
in shorts today! ... The weather pattern will gradually, over the next few days,
downshift back into somewhat more typical January temperatures.
Fighting to Save Big-Wave Surfing
Out in
California, devotees of big-wave surfing are fighting to keep their "sport"
alive in the face of federal regulations that could limit the types of watercraft used to
tow the surfers out to the huge waves.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting
is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials
from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis.
When the information comes directly from another source, it will be
attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is
fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the
original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
Posted at 11:45:23 PM
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