Regardless of the weather, livestock sometimes must move.
That reality is causing problems for Manitoba hog and cattle farmers, who face washed-out roads, submerged highways and overland flooding.
“We’re seeing some farms isolated,” said Cam Dahl, general manager of the Manitoba Pork Council.
That’s a challenge for hog operations that need to move animals on a tight schedule, such as weanling producers.
“It’s made difficult situations much worse,” said Dahl.
“We are on a just-in-time system. Pigs keep growing. There needs to be space in the barn.”
Much of Manitoba’s weanling production heads down to Minnesota and Iowa farms, so having Highway 75 cut off is a major problem, on top of any problems on the secondary highways, municipal roads and farm laneways that have been washed out or submerged by the recent storms.
However, it has not created a crisis because many of the affected farms are in areas that suffer occasional flooding, especially the Red River valley.
“Farmers have been through this rodeo before, so there has been some planning,” said Dahl.
For cattle, the transportation problems are less market-related and more management related. As outdoor animals that need to move between pastures and facilities, having roads submerged or washed out can isolate herds.
“Roads are being washed out and you need to move your animals,” said Carson Callum, general manager of Manitoba Beef Producers.
“Even just moving animals on-farm, getting them from one pasture to another, or from one site to another, has caused issues.”
Southern Manitoba was hit by three big low-pressure systems in three weeks. Farms faced blizzards and saturating rain, causing problems for newborn animals.
Flooding has been widespread, with many municipalities declaring states of emergency. For crop farmers, seeding has been delayed by weeks, although many are happy to see enough moisture to remove the threat of an early season drought.
Cattle producers are also happy to see moisture bathing hay fields and pastures but have suffered heavy losses of animals.
For hog producers, the recent crisis is a continuation of a chronic problem they have been complaining about all year. It was already difficult to guarantee good animal transportation early in the year, but then vaccine mandates on both sides of the border cut off a significant portion of truckers from doing cross-border work.
The flooding just exacerbates the situation.
“Our supply chain and logistics system were already incredibly stretched,” said Dahl.
