Livestock farmers deal with drought - Hometownstations.com-WLIO- Lima, OH News Weather Sports

Livestock farmers deal with drought

This summer drought has west central Ohio livestock farmers caught between a rock and a hard place.  

Many livestock farmers may have to sell off part of their herd to help pay to feed the remaining stock.      

The drought has cut down the amount of hay that can be grown locally.      

Usually there's three hay cuttings in a year.      

The second cutting was severely hampered due to the hot dry summer we've had... causing a shortage of feed for the livestock.        

Jill Smith with the Ohio Farm Bureau says because of the drought dairy farmers in particular are faced with the highest cost to feed their animals while bringing in the lowest milk prices in recent years.

She says with the recent rains we've had, the third hay cutting could be considerably better than the second.