Shortage feeding rancher's hunt for hay

ROSWELL, N.M. (KRQE) - The drought in New Mexico and Texas is causing a major alfalfa shortage. Many Texas ranchers who can't find hay there and are paying a premium price for it here, which is making it hard for some local farmers to compete.

There are many factors to blame: higher crop prices, increased demand from a growing dairy industry, and of course the drought.

Farmers say it's all contributing to a hay shortage.

"This time of year, I have anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 bales stored in my barn, and this is all I have right here--it's less than a thousand bales," Andrew Graves, owner of Graves Farm in Roswell,  said while glancing at his barn.

Graves said he's hoping his supply will last through May when he harvests his crops.

Hay is already gone from other local farms.

The severe lack of rain in Texas over the summer killed most of the hay crop forcing farmers and ranchers there to look to other states for hay.

"I get phone calls all the time just asking how much is this, and they'll be here with a trailer to pick it up," Graves said of Texas ranchers. "They don't care what the price is."

Graves has a hay menu listed online , and the website claims they're sold out although that's not necessarily true just yet.

"The reason why we did that is because we're trying to keep our hay for our local customers," Graves said.  "We don't want to run out on them.

"We're even having some shipped in, and grass and things like that to try to make sure that we don't run out."

He's had grass shipped in from as far north as the Dakotas. The low supply and high demand has people shelling out a lot more money to feed their herds.

Graves said small bales of alfalfa weighing 60-65 lbs. sell for $14 apiece at his farm.  Four or five years ago, they sold for $5 a piece.

Area farmers said the struggle to find hay is widespread, and that it doesn't just come down to money, there's just not much left.

The Graves' 300-acre farm and garden has been in Roswell more than 60-years, and Graves said local loyalty for him is important.

"I'm a fourth generation farmer," he continued.  "My family's been here a long time, so you know, we feel that our local business is strong and we have lots of customers and we want to keep treating them right."

There are still many local ranchers that say there is nowhere to find local hay in their area, so they are forced to go to other states like Oklahoma, where the price is significantly higher.