By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Dry weather during 2022 was hard on this year’s hay harvest.

Cattle and horse farmers are facing small harvests of their own hay and high prices to buy hay for the winter.

Cody Penner, who raises both cattle and horses on his rural Hillsboro property, said he recently had to purchase hay to feed his livestock through the winter. He hasn’t seen the bill yet, he said.

“We put up a lot of our own hay,” Penner said, but his harvest was about half the typical amount.

All his cattle are still on summer ground, he said.

Donnie Hett, who raises Angus/Hereford cross cattle on his property south of Marion, said his alfalfa harvest was less than typical this year. Lower harvests had an impact on the price of hay.

“It’s higher, for sure,” Hett said.

Many cattlemen are keeping their herds at pasture later this year.

“We’re trying to stretch feed as far as we can to make it as far as we can until spring,” Hett said.