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Greetings ALPO...I've been told by merchants that dairy products are not a big money maker for them, but have to carry those in their stores..animals such as horses are currently being abandoned or sold to Mexican markets for pet food because the owners can't afford the cost of basic-basic hay...Grains, such as oats and corn, no longer are used to feed livestock...Chief




Surging prices for hay are hitting Arizona horse lovers and other livestock owners hard, and the situation could get worse before it gets better.

Good-quality alfalfa hay that cost about $12 per bale in January is now running about $18 at local feed stores.

In some cases, prices have nearly doubled in the past year, in a run-up blamed on short supplies and keen demand for hay in drought-stricken areas like Texas, as well as overseas demand in China and Japan.

While the cattle and dairy industries are coping with the high prices and the prospect of winter shortages, the situation is perhaps being most keenly felt in Arizona's so-called "pleasure horse" industry.

The high hay costs are prompting many horse owners to give up their animals - a situation that equine advocates say will only worsen the problem of abandoned horses.

"People are turning them out in the desert - they're giving them away," said T. C. Chicago, who with her husband, Ace, co-owns Marana Feed & Supply