Oregon Public Broadcasting

Many Pacific Northwest hay farmers this week are gearing up for their first cutting of alfalfa for the season. But it’s going to be a skimpy one because of the cool spring weather.

As Richland correspondent Anna King reports the light crop isn’t helping the region’s hay shortage.

Drex Gauntt is a Columbia Basin hay farmer. He says he’s never seen crops grow this slow.

Drex Gauntt: "Everything is smaller. It looks like it’s the middle of April instead of the middle of May."

Gauntt says he won’t catch up on his hay after the cool start this year, but he still expects to come out ahead.

That’s because his customers are paying substantially more per ton for hay. There’s less of it on the market.

Thousands of hay acres in the Northwest have been planted into corn and wheat instead. Farmers are trying to capitalize on the soaring price of those staples.

Ranchers are caught in the middle. Snow-covered range land and slow growing pasture grass is causing them to have to feed more hay. Just when it’s at it’s most expensive.