Drought Causes Low Hay Supply for Area Ranchers - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

A lack of moisture in the area equals a lack of food for ranchers. They say the hay supply is so low right now they're having a hard time to make ends meet for their animals.

What was once a field of 400 hay bales, is now just half of that. Kim Thompson of Thompson Quarter Horses says it's a challenge to get these guys fed. "We're going to be short of hay for sure," says Thompson.

Thompson says she hasn't seen it this dry in nearly 15 years. "It was really bad. The green grass was all gone," says Thompson. Just last week, this grass here was brown, but now it's green thanks to the rain the area saw just a few days ago, but that's still not enough moisture for these horses.

"It's not going to come back because they're going to eat it off as fast as it comes in," says Thompson. Thompson feeds her cattle and horses once a week, but because of the lack of food, she says she has no other choice but to get rid of some animals.

And although the situation seems bad now, she says any type of rain will help. "I said we'd need a drought to dry things up but I was totally wrong," says Thompson.