Bad year here, too. Most hay is irrigated in NM; may run out of water before the season is up(irrigation districts count on run-off into what here are considered 'major' rivers--Rio Grande, Pecos, for instance--from up north, and since snow pack was minimal,may = no water later in the year.First cut alfalfa looked good on a trailer sitting at one local feed store, but here, that's really too rich for horses, not safe to feed, IMO...AND, it was well over $10/bale, tax included. Grass hay is even worse; local-grown in limited amounts; has been baled way too dry and way too mature for the most part, but light(@ 50 lb, if you're lucky)bales are ALSO above $10/bale. I bought one bale of a supposed K-31(fescue)/bermuda mix yesterday-which looked OK on the trailer... but won't again. Once opened, it is nearly HALF old brown 'stuff'...and even the 'green' is wirey and tough. I can feed fescue because I do NOT have breeding mares, but won't get any more of this crap.
'Some' area feed stores sell 3 string CA bermuda...I did buy one bale, at $18.95 before tax, that 'supposedly' weighed 125 lbs.(more like maybe 105-110 at best, which did not surprise me, as I've found that when asked, sellers VERY often overstate the weight-I'm sure that sometimes it's because they are just inept at estimation, but all too often, it is because they know most people can't or won't VERIFY...but I CAN, and I DO, and I tend to not do any more business with those who routinely do this...
I consider bermuda a 'filler', and really don't care much for it, but the horses were willing to eat it after finishing the much-better orchard grass I am about out of, so I may shop around among the local sellers and get a bale or so every month just so they have something to 'graze' on after they finish the 'good stuff'! Like many of you, I am still searching for some decent while affordable grass hay for this year.
In my searching around, I was told that hay brokers were practically fighting to 'snatch up' what IS available. I had a line on some good grass hay grown in the general area...then the grower informed me that he'd been 'offered' to sell the whole crop to one broker! He did so, but did tell me what he sold it for. It is kind of sickening what we will end up paying by the time the 'middlemen'get ahold of it...nearly a 100% markup overall. Pretty tough on some of us to afford.
Margo