When Sandi Walker looks at her fields on Second Chance Farm in Granbury, she sees trouble.
"Anything green you see is weeds," Walker said. "There's nothing to eat."
Second Chance Farm is a nonprofit for neglected and abused animals. Walker said they had a fundraiser specifically to buy hay because North Texas is in a drought. Good quality hay is hard to find and it's expensive.
Walker said she tried to anticipate the hay price hike. She put down a $6,500 deposit to secure $17,000 worth of hay, or 190 bales, to get through winter.
"When you're in a drought and it's a hay shortage, it's supply and demand," explained Walker.
The first 26 bales arrived two weeks ago, but Walker said they were brown and twiggy through and through. Walker said good quality hay should be green on the inside of the bale.
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She said her animals, some of which are blind, won't eat the hay that was delivered.
"We don't need top quality hay like they feed race horses," explained Walker. "We need good quality hay that won't make them sick."
Now Walker is scrambling to find enough hay and the money to pay for it. "That's $6,500 out of our pocket that we worked hard to raise for these animals and it's gone," Walker said. "It's flat gone."
Walker said she dipped into reserves to buy more than $1,000 of good quality hay, but that won't last two weeks. In total, she has found enough hay stock to last about two months. "I'm not gonna let 'em starve," Walker said.
As the price of hay continues to rise, Walker is hoping donors will help ... again.
