Farmers Experience Problems Due to Drought-Reduced Hay Crops
Based on recent news, some farmers from New Brunswick might not be able to feed their cows, as they are experiencing a shortage of hay this year. This is due to an extremely dry spring, when record flooding also took place, according to Philippe Morin, a beef producer that has a cattle farm in Saint-Joseph-de-Madawaska.
Hay is barely growing for a second cut
Morin, together with another farm owner in Millerton, Richard Siddal, both mentioned that they are 200 bales down and the hay for the second cut is barely green, not growing almost at all. Some other farmers might be a little bit luckier if they still have any leftover hay from last year.
The decision is tough
Due to the drought experienced this year, numerous farmers need to make a decision if they should sell livestock or buy hay from other producers. Unfortunately, both options are pretty bad for the farmers. Morin said that he will most probably sell some cattle if the second cut doesn’t go well, as the price of hay this year is way too expensive. He estimates that he will need to sell between 8 to 10 cows from a total of 30.
Unfortunately, this year we have had some bad weather conditions, and the weather obviously has a great impact on the hay season. There has been a lot of flooding in various areas, which meant that the lower ground was flooded. This affected the growth of hay, thus making the grass crop growing slower and later than usual.
Is there any help being offered?
There is one organization that is trying to survey all the producers in order to see exactly how bad the situation is. Cedric MacLeod of New Brunswick’s Cattle Producers said that they are trying to help the farmers who have a deficit this year.
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