Ranchers in southeast Colorado, where recent snowstorms left grazing land buried under several feet of snow, are turning to the Internet to find hay to feed their livestock.
A cyberspace clearinghouse has been set up on the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association Web site where ranchers and hay suppliers can connect. The site posts information on hay for sale or donation as well as links to other ranch and farm resources.
“The hay they’d planned for the winter is going fast – and we’re only into January,” said association spokeswoman Traci Eatherton.
“Who knows how many more storms we’ll keep getting? It’s difficult to work cattle under normal conditions. This adds a whole new twist.”
Cattle have been unable to graze since the first heavy snowstorm about five weeks ago, said Leonard Pruett, a Colorado State University extension agent in Lamar. He said ranchers normally might plan on a half-ton of hay per cow to supplement grazing over the course of an entire winter, but that assumes only about 10 days.
“Everybody’s down to their last stack of feed,” Pruett said.
“It’s a real critical situation.” The Web site could help bring suppliers and ranchers together to find a solution to the shortage, which Eatherton said may last into the spring.
“We definitely need something like this where ranchers have one stop to see what’s available,” she said. “A lot of these guys don’t have time to look and hunt.”
