Wells have gone dry, dugouts have no water and little grass grew on pastures this year in northern British Columbia after the third dry year in a row.
“We’re getting into a pretty scary situation,” said Julie Robinson, forage technician with the Peace River Forage Association of British Columbia.
Many farmers were forced to pull their cattle off pasture 15 days to one month earlier than normal after a dry summer with only 50 millimetres of rain, said Robinson.
It didn’t seem to matter if the cattle were in an intensively managed field or put into a large pasture. There is little grass left for cattle to eat. Robinson estimates hay and pasture production is down 20 to 50 percent from last year.
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Alex Fraser of Arras, B.C., placed an advertisement on the forage association website looking for 100 to 200 hay bales to feed his cattle and sheep over the winter. He has little grass left on his pasture and his hay will not last the winter.
“It’s fast going to run out,” he said.
He has started to scout for hay in the area, but any local feed is high priced. Hay for sale farther away may be easier to find but difficult to haul because most large trucks will be busy in the oil patch this fall and unavailable to haul hay.
“The price of hay is not too bad, it’s the trucking,” said Fraser.
Robinson said cattle producers have started to look across the road to harvested grain fields as an alternative source of feed. Spilled grain or sprouted grain and regrowth are an excellent feed alternative, but traditionally grain and cattle producers have not worked together.
“It is an option this year because of the regrowth in grain fields,” she said.
While producers can always buy hay or grain to feed their cattle, the shortage of water has caused problems for producers who have no other source. Some producers will be able to pump water from a larger dugout or river, but others will have to sell their cattle if they can’t find another source of water.
British Columbia’s ministry of agriculture plans to hold a series of seminars across the north to help farmers deal with the feed shortage.
“These sessions, plus others being planned by industry, will provide cattle and dairy farmers with expert advice on how to best deal with the situation,” said B.C. agriculture minister Pat Bell in a News release
news.
