Horse owners, here's a word to the wise: If you can grow, cut and store your own hay, do it.

Quality hay is becoming harder to find and more expensive, and the conditions that led to this winter's shortage aren't going away. Drought conditions could even make it worse next winter.

"It's a widespread deal and the circumstances aren't short-term," says Ashland hay grower Keith Corp.

Water is always a key component in hay supply and the current woes are the result of water reallocation 1,000 miles to the south.

"The issue trickled here out of Southern California," Corp says. "When the federal government reallocated the Southern California water to Arizona and Mexico, the water that had gone to the Imperial Valley and was dedicated to alfalfa production and super-large dairies dried up."

That region, Corp says, produced 6 million tons of hay annually. When that supply went away, farmers looked north, first to the San Joaquin Valley and then farther up the Central Valley. When another 300,000 acre-feet were diverted from the Trinity Reservoir to flush out fish, more hay growers were sidelined.

Last year, Southern California hay consumers discovered the Klamath Basin.

"They found pretty good hay there and the price was right," Corp says. "Most of the time Klamath growers are the last ones to sell, but instead of putting that hay into fields and barns there were trucks from the south setting right there ready to send it to California."

As a result, a lot of the hay that might have been readily available for local farmers and horse owners was long-since eaten.

Hay consumers, used to importing from Klamath County and Northern California now have to go north into the Willamette Valley, Bend or farther, paying premium prices on top of higher fuel costs.

Two decades ago, a ton of premium horse hay sold for $75 to $80. In recent years, it's been about $165 a ton. This year it's been in the $195 range "when you can find it," Corp says. "I've heard in Klamath, that there were 700 tons selling for $225 (per ton). That's a drop in the bucket since one horse can eat a ton per month."

Additionally, when horses get cold (and it's been cold lately), they tend to eat more.

Prior to the mid-1980s, the Rogue Valley produced enough hay to feed its own horses and cattle and still have enough to export beyond the Siskiyous. But fewer acres are devoted to production than ever and Corp says smaller pastures are often mismanaged causing both under-utilization and environmental issues. Even a dwindling cattle count hasn't offset an ever-increasing horse population that reaches into the thousands.

"It's been a gradual process, but the 20-, 30- or 40-acre pieces that were formerly used for hay production have been broken up into five-acre parcels," says Corp, who produces about 1,500 tons of hay annually. "People are keeping the irrigation going and the horses are grazing 365 days a year. That hammers the grass and there's none left for the winter and then you have soil and water issues because of the runoff."

The shortage has put pressure on suppliers such as Grange Co-op to corral enough hay for its customers. The co-op handles more than 14,000 tons of hay annually.

"Organic hay is next to impossible to find," admits Tim Higginbotham, feed operations manager for Grange Co-op. "The price has gone up considerably on all feed products, especially grain stock. We usually tie up enough for our stores locally ahead of time and a fair chunk comes from the Klamath Basin or Bly area. But in a shortage year, it puts more pressure on the store."

Jerry May, who runs 275 cattle on 225 acres outside of Central Point and also works at the Grange Co-op, says the demand for hay has created the need for alternatives.

One such is a compressed hay bale, which takes the same amount of material and reduces it into a 24-inch-by-18-inch cube produced in Eastern Oregon (compared to a 42- or 48-inch bale) so farmers can store it earlier in the year.

"We used to take as much as we could from local suppliers, but there is just less hay on the ground now," May says.

He managed four cuttings of hay on his 80 acres last year, beating the rain that ruined other grower's crops.

"People are just screaming," he says, "for all the hay they can get."

Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or at business@mailtribune.com