Wet, Soggy Spring Hurts Colorado Hay Harvest

Leonard predicts he'll produce about 4,000 tons of hay from his first cutting but that it won't be up to par. Last year, he said, the first cutting yielded 5,000 tons of good-quality hay.

"We have expectations that conditions will get better, and we have hope that the price will remain the same as last year," he said.

Jodie Pitcock, market reporting supervisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's marketing service, says there has been little "supreme" and "premium" quality hay this month, instead being in three lower categories.

The hay downturn will mean less good feed for ranchers and horse owners in Colorado.

Lance Shockley, a horse trainer who owns a farm in Loveland, told the newspaper that said that after the first cutting, he needs about five to seven days of dry weather in order to bale it up and sell it.

"At this point, there's not very much alfalfa for people to be purchasing," he said.

Recent hail storms in northeast Colorado have been especially bad for alfalfa because the hail strips the leaves off it.