Hay farmers awaiting dry weather

PARIS, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWSNOW) — Hay farmer, Todd McFarland, has yet to cut his next crop of hay, and it’s all because of the persistent rainy weather.

Normally, McFarland says they cut the crop around Memorial Day, but we’re several days into June, and he’s running behind.

“Not only are we having trouble getting in the fields to cut it, but we have so much moisture in the soil, that when we do cut it, we get this steaming effect coming out of the soil from the sun’s rays pulling the moisture out of the soil,” McFarland said.

Since Kentucky is the horse capital of the world, he provides hay for many here in the Commonwealth. He’s been doing this since 1864, but he says this year looks a little different than previous ones.

“The quality is probably not as good as it was last year,” he said. “We can’t feed that kind of quality to horses because these people have million-dollar mares and hundred-thousand-dollar stud fees. They don’t need or want to buy hay that’s inferior.”

McFarland says they need three to five days of ideal weather to cut their next crop of hay.

“It’s one of those situations that we just have to live with it and deal with it and in time this thing will take care of itself,” he said.