Already record-high alfalfa prices have jumped again in recent months, putting financial strains on Los Angeles’ surprisingly large horse industry.
Alfalfa prices have almost doubled since the early 1990s. This year’s state alfalfa crop was reduced due to floods in Northern California and, ironically, high water costs in other parts of the state. Thus, prices have moved up another 25 percent to 50 percent this year over last.
“Last year, we were paying $7 a bale for alfalfa, but it went up to $10.25 on April 1, and it has stayed there,” said Linda Chavez of the 75-horse Sunset River Trails Equestrian Center in El Monte. Other stables report paying $11 or more per bale.
In 20 years in the horse business, “these are the highest alfafa prices I have ever seen,” said Chris Runge, manager of the 65-horse River Ridge Stables near Griffith Park.
For a typical stable with 40 horses, an increase in alfalfa prices from $7 a bale to $11 a bale will mean an extra $960 a month in feed bills.
Stable owners say they are resigned to the increase alfalfa is not a discretionary purchase.
“There isn’t a lot you can do. You have to feed the horses,” said Jim Bennett, manager of the 40-horse Bennett Farms stables at the L.A. Equestrian Center in Burbank.
So far, most stable owners say they are holding the line on rates they charge customers to house and feed their horses.
“For now, we are absorbing the higher prices. You raise your rates too much, and you’ll raise yourself right out of business,” said Runge of the 60-year-old River Ridge Stables.
Others concurred. “So far, we haven’t raised rates. It’s been OK,” said Michelle Zamora, assistant manager of the Arroyo Seco Stables in South Pasadena, which will board horses in a corral for $195 a month or in a stable for $230.
Los Angeles County is not alone in paying higher prices for alfalfa, by far the dominant feed for horses and which is also known as hay.
For the first time in memory, less than 1 million acres in California were farmed for alfalfa in the last growing season, said Truman Brown, manager of the Kern County Hay Growers Association near Bakersfield.
Northern California suffered floods and ill-timed rains, while in the Central Valley, bottom land was also inundated with water, said Brown. And many farmers have eshewed alfalfa of late because it is a water-intensive crop, and water costs have gone up, he added.
“We had a depletion of inventories over the winter … we were completely sold out of alfalfa by Dec. 15,” Brown said. His group trucked in alfalfa from Nevada and Utah to meet the needs of clients, who are largely dairy farmers, Brown said.
Los Angeles is justifiably known for its auto culture, but there is a sizable horse population in the county as well, although figures are hard to come by.
Dozens of riding stables dot the region, from Calabasas and Malibu in the west, the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys to the north, La Canada Flintridge and Bradbury in the east, to Palos Verdes in south. And the Burbank-Glendale area near Griffith Park is host to another set of stables and equestrian-zoned neighborhoods where homeowners can stable equines in their back yards.
The region also boasts two of the nation’s largest horse racetracks, Hollywood Park and Santa Anita, which allow for nearly year-round racing.
One local expert said all the local equine business makes Los Angeles the nation’s horse capital.
“Los Angeles County has the largest horse population of any county in the United States,” said Ron Wechsler, director of the Equine Program at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, who bases his statement on industry figures and his own observations.
As horses have largely lost their agricultural purpose, most today are kept for racing or recreation and thus human populations are indicative of horse populations, said Wechsler.
In the state of California, there are about 650,000 horses, according to a study commissioned by the American Horse Council in Washington, D.C. More than 80 percent of state’s horses are kept for racing or recreation, the council reports.
Nationwide, the horse industry is certainly large, eclipsing such well-known industries as furniture manufacturing or motion picture production in terms of employment and economic output, according to the council’s study, which was conducted by accounting firm KPMG Peat Marwick LLP.
But for local stable owners, it is feed bills that are large.
Horses typically weigh between 800 and 1,200 pounds, although some large breeds weigh around 2,200 pounds. An average-sized horse will go through a bale or about $11 worth of alfalfa in five days, said Chavez and other stable operators.
But large horses eat more. “The Belgian will eat three bales a week,” said Chavez, referring to the hefty draft horse, which was bred to pull loads of up to five tons.
Wechsler of Pierce College predicted that the higher prices of alfalfa ultimately won’t have much impact. Horse owners are generally well-heeled, and love their horses.
“The median family income of a horse owner is $60,000,” he said, citing the American Horse Council study. “Most people regard their horses as intrinsic to their lifestyle, and they are pets. You don’t give up a pet over feed bills.”
But Chavez at Sunset River worried that some would-be horse owners might falter, if the cost of owning a horse rises too much more. “I have seen some people turn away from the business. For some people, it just costs too much to stable a horse,” she said.
State and federal agricultural officials seem puzzled by the price increase. “We know the prices are higher. We don’t know why,” said Tom Marr, a statistician with the California Agricultural Statistics Service in Sacramento, an arm of the federal Agricultural Department.
Brown, of the Kern County Hay Growers Association, thinks there is little cause for panic. Crop planting decisions tend to go in cycles, he said. “Now that the price is up, more farmers will probably start planting it. Then prices will go back down.”
That would be welcome news for stable owners. “Maybe we’ll be able to save the horse,” quipped Chavez of Sunset River.