GREAT FALLS - For many Montana ranchers, spring is usually the season when cattle begin moving out on grass and producers start looking ahead to the next hay crop.But after years of dry conditions across parts of the state, that transition has become harder to count on.Watch the video here: Montana Ag Network: Drought pressure pushes ranchers to make tough hay decisionsIn north central Montana, hay supplies remain tight, demand is high, and some ranchers are already trying to line up feed earlier than they normally would.For many families, the concern is not just what hay is available right now. It is how long dry conditions may last, how far feed may have to be hauled, and whether buying more hay makes sense compared to other options, including selling cattle.Brock Hodgkiss works at Mountain View Livestock near Choteau, where hay, cattle, shipping and feed are all part of the operation. He said the past few years have forced some to think differently about how they manage feed and pasture. Hodgkiss has his own operation located near Bynum, where last year he saw a sginificant reduction in yields from his irrigrated land.Weve had two years in a row where weve just hardly put up any hay out there, so thats impacted us quite a bit, Hodgkiss said.He said some are already looking for carryover hay from last year in an effort to get ahead of what could become a tighter season.People are already buying old hay from last year, or carryover hay, trying to get ahead of the fire, I guess, or ahead of the storm, Hodgkiss said. People are starting to try to reach out, trying to find hay and build up supply.In a typical year, Hodgkiss said many producers would have cattle turned out on grass by now. This year, some are still feeding longer, waiting for grass and moisture to catch up or trying to decide whether to buy more hay, find additional pasture or reduce herd numbers.He said that decision is rarely simple.Either people come to a point where either they want to buy hay, and depending on how expensive it is and how much hay they need, or theyre going to sell cows, Hodgkiss said.High cattle prices are making that decision easier for some, but Hodgkiss said selling cattle can still change the structure of an operation. Ranchers may have leases, equipment, hired help and long-term plans built around a certain herd size. When drought forces those numbers to change, the impact can stretch beyond one season. Pasture and water availability are also part of the challenge. Hodgkiss said some producers may still have grass, but not enough water. Others may lose access to summer pasture or have to haul water, which adds time, labor and expense.For those trying to buy hay, distance can also become a major factor. Hodgkiss said there are years when ranchers can look to nearby areas for extra feed, but when drought covers a larger region, the search can stretch farther.A look at current drought data here. Its yet to be known how far were going to have to go to get the majority of the hay, Hodgkiss said.He said the uncertainty is one of the hardest parts. A timely rain can help grass and pastures, but it does not immediately rebuild hay supplies or erase the pressure producers are already feeling.You can get through one year most of the time of drought and try to plan around it, Hodgkiss said. But you start stacking up years of drought, and people just get tired of it and trying to figure out everything, and they just start selling cattle.As producers look for options, a once-decommissioned resource is coming back online.The Hay Hotline was previously housed by the Montana Department of Agriculture. After it was decommissioned, Western Sustainability Exchange took it on and tied it together with the Mountain West Grazing Connection in 2025. Adele Stinson with Western Sustainability Exchange said the organization works to bring conservation and ranching together, with a focus on helping make land healthier while keeping ranchers productive and profitable.She said the Hay Hotline and the grazing connection were originally separate resources, but Western Sustainability Exchange saw an opportunity to bring them together in one place.We didnt originally create them, but we have tied them together in one site where producers can look for forage or sell forage or lease forage, Stinson said.Through the Mountain West Grazing Connection, producers can post hay for sale, search for hay, list pasture leases or look for other feed options such as straw, cake, cover crops or stubble.Stinson said the site can also be useful for producers who have extra grass, farmers with cover crops that could be grazed, or landowners who may be open to leasing forage they do not normally use.The process is designed to be simple. Producers create an account, post what they have or what they are looking for, and connect directly with others.Stinson said the site is not only about hay. In a dry year, it can help people think more broadly about forage and livestock options.I think there could be some opportunity at this point, even for folks who are looking to lease grass or who are looking to take in extra livestock on their own place, Stinson said. She explaiend how the resource becomes more valuable as more people use it. Users do not have to know their exact needs before checking the site or posting a listing; even getting familiar with what is available can help ranchers plan earlier in the season.If you can figure out what you can do and you know what you can get, then you know youve got it, Stinson said. And its one less thing to worry about in what could be a year that has a lot of worries to go around.Western Sustainability Exchange is also working with Montana Disaster and Emergency Services on a disaster page connected to the site. Stinson said the goal is to make it easier for people to seek or contribute feed and other resources during emergencies, while connecting them with local DES coordinators.For ranchers, the next several weeks could shape decisions about hay, pasture and cattle numbers later in the season. While the Hay Hotline will not change the weather, organizers hope it can give producers one more tool to find options sooner.Hodgkiss said resources like the Hay Hotline can help producers reach beyond their immediate circles, especially when hay, pasture or feed options are harder to find.Unless you have connections with a lot of people, its hard to know whats around, Hodgkiss said.For now, many producers are watching the weather, tracking hay supplies and trying to make decisions before they are forced into them. ...read more read less