| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT:Lee Boyer |
| May 12, 2004 | (406) 444-2402 TTY (406) 444-4687 |
Hay Hotline Links Producers with Buyers
HELENA, Mont. — Widespread shortages of moisture again this spring have left a lot of livestock producers looking for additional summer pasture for their animals.
About half of range and pasture lands in Montana were in "poor" or "very poor" condition due to drought, according to the Crop-Weather Report issued May 10, 2004, by the Montana Agricultural Statistics Service.
The Montana Hay Hotline serves as a clearinghouse for buyers and sellers of hay and forage products including available pasture, says Ralph Peck, director of the Montana Department of Agriculture.
The department's Hay Hotline has been in existence for more than nearly a decade, linking buyers with producers who have hay and forage to sell. The hotline includes both county and neighboring state listings, and specifies the type of hay, bale configuration, certification and tonnage amounts, as well as available or needed pasture.
Livestock and horse owners who need hay can visit the site from the department's homepage at: www.agr.mt.gov. Internet users clicked on the Hay Hotline website more than 700 times during the past month, and most of those users then moved into the site to view other web pages.
Producers who would like to list hay or pasture on the hotline can provide their names to the Montana Department of Agriculture at the hotline number, (406) 444-2402, e-mail the information to agr@mt.gov, or fax the information to (406) 444-9442.
A link available from Montana State University's Extension Economics website also lists other websites with available hay and pasture. To reach the site, access www.montana.edu/extensionecon/ and click on "Hay and Pasture Websites" near the bottom of the page.
For more information about the Montana Department of Agriculture's Hay Hotline, contact Lee Boyer at (406) 444-2402 or by e-mail at agr@mt.gov.
