PLANO, Texas — There are a million things to do to keep a ranch up and running, and one of the most basic tasks has Rosie Aschenbrenner stressed.
"It seems like that's all I worry about every week," she said.
She owns Healers 4 Heroes in Plano, which offers horseback riding lessons and therapeutic riding for veterans, but feeding those horses in 2019 has become more expensive than she and others expected. Aschenbrenner used to pay around $60 for a single round bale.
"Now, they're anywhere from $85 to $150," she said.
It's a big enough markup that she's started driving to Oklahoma to buy hay for less. "It's only an hour, but it is a better deal," she said.
North Texas is in a hay shortage, and it's affecting ranchers and suppliers alike. At Wells Brothers Pet Lawn and Garden Supply, Dick Broussard says two things are to blame. "The biggest one is drought," he said. "Next is army worms...insects."
Spring of 2018 was too dry for too long, and what was left was under attack. That means what Broussard does have to sell is in very high demand. Up until two weeks ago, customers could come in and buy as many barrels of hay as they wanted. Because of the shortage, the store set a limit of just 10 bales of hay per customer, per day.
"When I get some more, and I will get some more, it'll be five," he said.
That next truck load of hay he's buying will be from Florida. The next harvest of hay around here comes in June. Until then, ranchers will try to answer the question of what it'll cost until then.