Drought Withers Smallest Hay Crop in Century to Boost Beef Costs

By Whitney McFerron and Jeff Wilson:

The smallest U.S. hay crop in more than a century is withering under a record Texas drought, boosting the cost of livestock feed for dairy farmers and beef producers from California to Maryland.

The price of alfalfa, the most common hay variety, surged 51 percent in the past year, reaching a record $186 a short ton in May, government data show. Hay and grass make up about half of what cattle eat over their lifetimes, so parched pastures are forcing ranchers to find alternative sources of feed, pushing some spot-market corn to the highest ever.

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The drought, which is the worst ever in Texas, is compounding a hay shortage caused by farmers shifting this year to more profitable crops, including corn. The U.S. may harvest 57.605 million acres of hay in 2011, the least on records going back to 1909, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. Corn was sown on 92.282 million acres, the second-most since 1944.
Ethanol Corn Grab

Surging demand from ethanol refiners, livestock producers and importers sent corn futures up 75 percent in the past year, as of yesterday. The U.S. is the world’s largest corn grower and exporter, and the government said June 9 that, for the first time ever, more of the crop will be used to make fuel than animal feed.

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Once again the policies of the anti-oil, eco-zealots has caused misery, famine and higher prices for everything. This was their hope all along because they hate mankind and despise progress.

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