01/30/09 Making hay

Several weeks ago in Idaho papers there were stories written about our poor economy and how it was affecting horse lovers. In their words, and I quote, "high hay prices and the weak economy are blamed for a growing number of horse owners who are giving up their animals in Idaho. In 2007 and 2008, the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department received three times more reports of abuse regarding horses, donkeys or mules than it did in all of 2005 and 2006, said Capt. Ben Wolfinger. One Cambridge, Idaho farmer who's taking advantage of hay prices is Ron Jaeger who used to both run cattle and farm alfalfa but&"Got to the point where the cattle was not as profitable as the hay farming and as we've gotten older and farther along in our lives, realized that we're going to the farming and getting away from the cattle 'cause that's what we feel we can do better at." But it goes further. Ron and his wife Kris found a profitable little niche. "For people who have just a horse or two and don't have a tractor that can handle a whole ton, we're making bales that weigh 100 pounds" and Ron sells about 5000 bales through a broker for about ten bucks a bale. Most of his hay is distributed through feed stores. And a son will continue the tradition. "He's in FFA, Future Farmers of America, he's Pesident of their chapter, and he's got his eye on faming and ranching." That's Today's Idaho Ag News, I'm David Sparks for the Northwest Ag Information Network.