Chatsworth Equestrians Face Increased Costs Due to Soaring Hay Prices
With hay prices up 78% since December, many boarding stables are raising their rates.
What does the Chinese price of milk have to do with the cost of boarding a horse in Chatsworth? It’s all a bit complicated but the bottom line is that the dairy industry and the demand for milk have a great effect on the cost of hay, which is currently driving up the cost of feeding and boarding horses.
For example, at Trails End Ranch on Andora Avenue, boarding fees were increased $25 per horse to offset the sudden increase in hay prices. One hay supplier in Lancaster told Chatsworth Patch that her clients are ordering lower grades of hay in order to keep their costs down.
In December, the United States Department of Agriculture reported the monthly average cost of alfalfa hay in 115 pound bales at $152.24 per ton (or $8.75 per bale), delivered in the Los Angeles/Chino/San Diego areas. Today, the price is $270 per ton (or $15.52 per bale), up 78 percent.
So why is hay all of a sudden in such high demand? According to Jeff Wilson in an article for Bloomberg News, the growing Asian middle class has increased milk demand 39 percent; while the demand for milk powder, butter, whey and cheese from southeastern Asia has gone up 55 percent. As a result, milk prices in the United States are up 4.8 percent over this time last year.
The numbers speak loudly. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that in the past five years orders for hay from the Middle East have grown from 36,000 metric tons per year to over 670,000 metric tons per year. In China, sales have grown from 251 metric tons to over 221,000 metric tons. That’s nearly 1 million metric tons of hay per year that used to be consumed by the American dairy industry and horse people like you and me. Last year, 350,000 dairy cows were put to death because dairy farmers couldn’t afford to feed them.
“What we saw in 2010, because of the financial losses in the dairy industry and the strong demand of export hay, was that exporters bought more hay and were outbidding and more competitive than dairy buyers,” said Seth Hoyt, hay market analyst and publisher of The Hoyt Report,
This tug of war over our nation’s hay supply will only result in higher prices for everyone.
Experts are predicting a 15 percent decrease in alfalfa production in Washington and Idaho, and a 5 percent decrease in California, Nevada and Utah in 2011 due to the rising cost of corn and cotton. Cotton prices are at their highest levels since the Civil War, and hay farmers are switching to the more lucrative crops.
Hoyt predicts hay prices may not start to fall until 2012, and only if milk prices hold steady.
In the meantime, all we can do is hope that something gives and improves the situation. It seems to me that perhaps a government subsidy to incentivize hay growers to increase production might be a good idea, it could be financed through tariffs tacked onto foreign hay exports.
If foreign buyers want our hay, maybe they should pay a premium for it. This would lower the cost for the dairy industry and help keep the cost of milk down. At the same time, it would help us keep our horses knee deep in clover.
Our representatives in the Congress and Senate have the power to make this happen. Their job is to help us by protecting our interests and holding them above foreign interests. Don’t let them sit back while our hay supply is bought out from under our noses.
Ask them to impose tariffs or fees on hay exports. There is something wrong with allowing our hay to be bought up for foreign use while our own dairy farmers are suffering.
The suicide rate among dairy farmers was so high in Tulare County last year that local businesses had public awareness posters posted on their doors to help people read the indicators if someone was going to do the deed. When I asked a local resident there what it was all about, she explained that the financial woes for dairy farmers were so overwhelming that many of them were committing suicide out of shame. Perhaps if the cost of hay went down, those woes would lessen.
No American should be put in this position by foreign interests. It’s not right. Maybe if we all take a moment and write a letter, we can make a difference. Not only for ourselves and our horses, but for our dairy farmers, too. Let’s cause a stir, let’s make some noise, let’s stand up for our fellow Americans and take this one small step to take our country back. What do you say? Is it worth five minutes of your time?
Barbara Boxer can be contacted at: boxer.senate.gov
Office of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer
312 N. Spring St. Suite 1748
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Congressman Henry Waxman can be contacted at: henrywaxman.house.gov
8436 West Third Street, Ste 600 Los Angeles, CA 90048
Should we impose tariffs on foreign hay exports? How can we help U.S dairy farmers?
Tell us in the comments.
Dan L. Huffman
12:01 pm on Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Greaaaaat article Susan....for many years I drove a haytruck and serviced all the local ranches and many dairies in the San Joaquin. My opinion is that not only are you correct but hay has indeed become another resource that our gov't intentionally forces us to domesticly compete against each other for , food, fuel, electricity, water. real estate, insurance,you name it, making it impossible to survive or to just barely. By keeping products high priced it keeps most moderate and low incomes under Gov't control therefore lessening the threat to their political power ie: we need them. Couple these products high costs with the IRS, Franchise Tax Board, hundreds of programs such as Obamacare, all the city and county taxes and fees imposed, it is by design, to keep the masses in check. This country does not want you to suceed and will do everything in its power including squeezing a bale of hay down to the size of a shoebox to put more in a ship container to export, to ensure it. We always have enough to send billions to countries that hate us, as our schools and infrastructure collapse, but not enough to help our own people, such as dairy farmers. I can only guess that we are supposed to be satisfied with a new bus line up Canoga Ave. Having a horse is a luxury that should be squeezed out, riding a bus or bicycle is the future as this gov't moves us towards a replica of the Peoples Republic of China..keep "em dumbed down, keep 'em under Gov't control. Makes sense to me....
Susan Eskander
12:07 pm on Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Thanks Dan - it seems like people would be very concerned about what's going on in the Central Valley. Boxer has shut off the delta waters that provide irrigation to our crops as a knee jerk reaction to the waning Delta Smelt - funny things - the fish population isn't doing any better with the Delta's waters being shut off - and rumor has it the fish is dying from raw sewage being dumped into the river. We have a huge dust bowl up there - and we now we can't supply enough hay to our own dairy farmers....what the heck is going on?????
Dan L. Huffman
1:36 pm on Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Political crime is what is going on. It is the essence of your article and water is an important product topic. Both Boxer and Feinstein have major financial ( Feinstein's husband a major holder ) interest in Del Monte Foods. They import most all of their products from foreign countries. By reducing water flow under the guise of a fish ( how about cyrogenic freezing of their sperm ) or ( sending a few mil of them to a aquarium ) for future preservation, it limits the output of Ca. farmers by limiting crops severely. Import prices skyrocket. Guess who gets rich ? And re-elected !! The water deal is a complete political scam. There is no water shortage. Sacramento and Stockton dump two million gallons of sewage into the Delta every day. At this moment Lake Shasta ( 4.5 million acre feet of water, 30,000 acres ) the largest freshwater storage in Western America is near full and dumping millions of gallon daily into the flood staged Sacramento as torrential spring rains ( 12 inches in last 24 hours ) flood the entire upper Sac. Valley. They MUST dump it daily as the inflow is a tremendous volume and once it is out of their control and goes over the spillway it will become out of control flooding from Redding to Sac. Hundreds of thousands of acres of mountain runoff heading into the four rivers that comprise the Central Valley Project. California's reservoirs are at flood stages, the snowpack is 200% of normal and it is being sent to the Pacific via Suisun Bay. Continued..
Dan L. Huffman
2:04 pm on Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Think: Jack Nickolson, Chinatown. I recommend www.shastalake.com. Scroll down to water data. I moniter this site several times per day for many years as I operate and spend a great deal of time in Shasta County. The data for all reservoirs in this state is available, minute by minute. Please note the tremendous volume of waterbeing released statewide as I write. This is an incredible imformative site. Hundreds of millions of gallons are gushing to the sea. Which brings me back to my opinion that if most everything ( by whatever means necessary ) needed and consumed by common man is is kept out of financial reach of most of us , we are kept in check. If not financially, then mentally. I have not the faintest belief that anyone in Scaramento or Washington has my interest in mind one iota. Their sole agenda is to tax, levy, charge, spend and ensure my ( our ) dependence on them by creating laws, fees, ordinances that all generate more revenues for them to waste as well ( such as water ). By creating more rules, it creates more revenues. It is not that I'm crazy quite yet ( though close ) but I have simply removed common sense from all the required necessities equations. It is not set up to help us but rather help them. Power is control. Life is a game of King of the Hill. If you keep rolling rocks down on the little guy, he never poses a threat. And you have fun ! And fund yourself greatly ! And just think...it all started with a bale of hay ! Which soon will cost more !
Susan Eskander
4:11 pm on Wednesday, March 23, 2011
What an amazing response, Dan - I only knew about the tip of the iceberg and didn't see the real threat below the surface......just like the Captain of the Titanic.
Dan L. Huffman
4:50 pm on Wednesday, March 23, 2011
I just hope that Federal or State agents don't show up at my door tonight. And even worse, I hope that they don't slit my nose as a warning, as they did Jack ! If you see me with stiches in my nose...or I disappear suddenly....you'll know the real story....all the best.........Dan
Saul Daniels
7:00 pm on Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Dan,
Yelburton: My goodness, what happened to your nose?
Jake Gittes: I cut myself shaving.
Yelburton: You ought to be more careful. That must really smart.
Jake Gittes: Only when I breathe.
Dan L. Huffman
8:55 pm on Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Good stuff Saul, good stuff, though I have not yet seen Roman Polanski cruising Devonshire and in L.A County, I doubt I will, but I'm keeping an eye out. Glad your keeping up with my articles, I do need a good editor to keep up with my typos, do you know of any ? I enjoy your writers articles...interesting info....yes, only when I breathe...see you soon......D
Arizona Darkblade
1:51 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
This is war. If our government doesn't realize how the economic decisions and policies of foreign nations are bringing our to its knees they are completely DUMB. This stuff has GOT TO STOP!
Arizona Darkblade
1:59 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
And you know what is really sad. I have four horses. I am an American. I mirror households across this country. For those selling the hay overseas, let them know this. Millions of horses are being slaughtered. Millions of heads of cattle. All of this will drive our dairy, beef, and other costs through the roof. So, for a margin of profit, our nation is going to have repercussions that are going to harm MILLIONS. I am considering euthanizing a 24 year old horse (who is lame and on a special diet) and a six year old gelding. I can't afford to keep them. The six year old gelding is a wild horse. Nice. I'm so proud of my fellow Americans. Profit isn't always the way to go about things.
Arizona Darkblade
2:02 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
I can't find ANYONE to take my horse. Purebred, fully trained horses are being sold for $100 at market right now. THIS ECONOMY STINKS! Thank all of those people in Washington opening our borders to foreign nations for that. Making doing business with them equivalent to national security and prosperity. Maybe we'll all get jobs doing the grunt work for China and Japan now that all of our high tech industries are over there and they are booming technological centers. WE ARE SUCH A STUPID NATION.