WATERTOWN (AP) -- Some dairy farmers in upstate New York say they will be forced to buy more forage to feed their cattle or downsize their herds because of smaller harvests of corn and hay after a dry summer.
The Watertown Daily Times reports that healthy rainfall in August may have helped save some crops, but the dry weather this summer is expected to diminish the fall harvest.
Officials with the Jefferson County Cornell Cooperative Extension office say farmers throughout the county are making plans to sell more of their so-called cull cattle, those with defects or who produce low amounts of milk.
Along with trimming their herds, many farmers will need to buy corn silage and hay at today's high prices to make up for the reduced forage.
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