>>>> So I'm glad drought and high hay prices don't affect you, but they >>>> affect us out here.
I didn't say that, Susan. The drought affected us in the southeast seriously - last year. I said earlier that I don't ever expect to pay what we've been used to paying for hay. Last year, we had to scramble to bring in hay at over double the price we normally pay, and we were darned lucky to find it for that price. I had 23 horses last year - 2 more this year. Last year's drought caused a hay crisis unlike anything I've seen in this area in 20 years of owning horses, and it hit us REALLY hard in the pocketbook. That particular weather pattern - the drought in the southeast that was the subject of the video - is past. I think there are at least two much more newsworthy issues that the media SHOULD be talking about instead of last year's drought. What bothers me is that the low prices horses are going for at auction is being blamed on drought. I don't think that's it. I think the biggest problem that's causing horses to go so cheaply at auction is the fact that meat buyers aren't keeping the price floor at a minimum since the slaughterhouses closed. It's an ugly situation, but hopefully it will turn around and things will be better because of it...eventually. If we wring our hands over last year's drought, then we aren't making it clear to people that there are simply too many unwanted horses. We need to educate people to breed fewer horses, and to breed smarter, and to take care of the horses on this planet already. And we CAN become aware of why corn prices are so high - because of government-subsidized ethanol production...an "alternate fuel" that consumes more energy than it produces. And those artificially-high corn prices are driving up the price of soybeans since more farmers are growing corn and there's less soybeans. That's seriously affecting the food-supply for much of the world. And, it's taking land out of hay production. I have long-term concerns about hay-supplies, and the cost of hay. These other issues are present and loom ahead of us, and could potentially get bigger and bigger. I just wish the media and the doomsayers would address these current and future issues, not dwell on last year's weather news. Karen Thomas, NC
