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The 23 horses on her 165-acre Big Valley Ranch on East Burns Valley Road eat eight 1-ton round hay bales every week and a half, and hay is costing Goetzman more than ever.
She paid 25 percent — or $20 a bale — more than her usual rate when she stockpiled a barn-full last year, and she expects to pay even more this fall.
Goetzman is lucky. Hay prices average $100 a ton higher than the previous five years — an almost two-fold increase, said Tom van der Linden, a University of Minnesota Extension Services educator.
Rising feed costs across the nation are leading boarders to increase their fees and cut back on the number of horses they keep or face losing their farms. Some people have simply abandoned their horses.
The problem could be the downfall of America’s hobby horse farms, enthusiasts say.
“Owning a horse is at a crisis stage,” Goetzman said. “The day of the backyard hobby horse may well be history when the common American worker cannot afford a horse.”
Van der Linden points to the soaring cost of fuel as a primary cause of a 50 percent to 75 percent increase in grain prices.
But problems in the horse industry are multi-faceted. Hay fields converted to corn for alternative fuels, international conflicts, an increase in natural catastrophes, higher energy costs, a slumping economy and people stranding unwanted horses in public places all contribute to the problem.
Hay prices can fluctuate wildly, depending on the source, quality or how it’s cut.
“Hay prices are a relationship thing,” van der Linden said. “If you have a good relationship with your hay source, you may be doing better.”
Goetzman expects her situation to go from bad to worse: Her supplier is getting out of the business. She isn’t looking forward to the tough decisions she’ll face this fall when she restocks her winter hay supply.
Jake and Holly Wieser, who own Outback Ranch in Houston, Minn., typically use 3,000 to 4,000 square 40-pound bales a year. They’re paying double what they used to.
“We’re just right now having to buy hay,” Jake Wieser said. “And (low boarding numbers) makes you question how much to buy.”
Pony Tails Stable co-owner Della Schmidt said they sold their horse-boarding facility in January due to personal reasons. But the pinch of higher operational expenses — grain, electricity, propane and insurance —caused them to increase monthly board rates last year, she said.
The feed situation represents larger problems throughout the ag industry, where farmers are paying more for fertilizer, seeds and fuel, said Schmidt, who is also the president of the Winona Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I think the consumer is feeling that everywhere else, groceries and gas,” Schmidt said. “Equine is pretty strong in Winona County, but the story might be broader … and how the cost of hay, grain, bedding and fuel is affecting agriculture.”
She expected food prices will spike to reflect these problems by the year’s end.
For Goetzman, the situation is heartbreaking.
The 68-year-old plans to sell or give away up to five of her personal horses. She also may not be able to afford her longtime summer worker.
“I have four stablers who cannot afford full stable payments,” she said. “I’ll carry them until June and then the horses will have to go. It’s the most difficult and emotionally-draining task I have to do is telling people they need to face reality and sell their horses they can’t afford.”
Goetzman doesn’t plan to raise her boarding fees yet, but she hopes to combat rising costs through summer programs and add 15 more acres of grazing pastureland.
Last fall, for the first time in her career, Goetzman was offered four well-broken, older horses for free. She didn’t have the money or the time to take them on.
“As much as I would like to take every horse in and care for it, the reality of it is this: It’s either I eat or they eat.”
Contact reporter Amber Dulek at amber.dulek@lee.net or 507-453-3513.
