Readers Respond: Where’s the Hay?
Almost 1,300 readers of TheHorse.com responded to a poll asking, “Are you having problems getting hay?”
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When her barn operator’s hay supply fell short last fall, Kentucky horse owner Linda Jones struggled mightily with high prices and limited availability to keep her two Saddlebreds fed. “I’m stocking up now,” Jones said. “I don’t Too much alfalfa, too little oat and grass hay, and limited access to pasture grazing are important factors that put horses at risk for developing enterolithiasis (intestinal stones that have the potential to cause colic). Drought conditions in parts of western North Dakota have some livestock producers in need of additional forage. Farmers and ranchers who have forage for sale can list it on a North Dakota State University (NDSU) database designed to help feed Horses evolved to eat a lot of fiber, spending up to 17 hours a day grazing various forage plants. But not all fiber is created equal, especially when it comes to hay. Hay carries a few challenges compared to living forages. One, compared t In recent months, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and The Denver Post have reported on the apparent increase in the number of unwanted, neglected, or Providing a complete diet for your horse does not have to be time-consuming or expensive. The USDA has released several crop reports that indicate the number of hay acres will be down in 2008. The department also reported that the existing hay supply is lower than previous years. This information, combined with higher input cost If your horse has ulcers, giving him omeprazole isn’t the only thing you can do to help reduce the severity of the problem. Noah Cohen, VMD, PhD, MPH, Dipl. ACVIM, discussed a study that found alfalfa hay reduced the severity of ulcers in young, The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) has launched several initiatives to assist livestock producers and equine owners in locating and transporting hay to their farms to cope with the ongoing Michigan’s equine population has climbed nearly 20% since 1996, according to the preliminary results of a new study conducted by investigators from Michigan State University (MSU), the Michigan Horse Council, and the National Agricultural Whether it is the result of weather conditions making forage scarce or prohibitively expensive, or if there’s some other reason, there could come a time when horse owners need to consider alternative sources of forage. Equine nutritionists say that Good owners know whether the hay they are feeding is the right type and the right quality. Feeding grain, confinement, exercise, and overall environmental stress factors are thought to cause ulcers, he said. It’s commonly thought that horses turned out on pastures are better off than those that are confined. However, if grass hay is the on Agriculture experts around the country are warning hay farmers and buyers to watch for scams amid a feed shortage and resulting high prices. In Washington, hay prices have passed $200 per ton in some areas, and winter is still weeks away. The Nearly 2,400 readers of TheHorse.com responded to a poll asking, “How much are you paying for small square bales of hay?” Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.comWeekly PollPartners in Equine Health
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