Cattle producers demand quick action on drought-damaged grain crops as the sceptre of a massive herd selloff looms
Hay grower Justin Hok has no shortage of feed on his irrigated farm near Tilley, Alta., but it’s destined for overseas markets this year.
He bristled at the suggestion he’s taking advantage of the situation.
“The only way to make money with hay is to export or go to dairy, specialty markets, for second and third cuts,” Hok said.
“Now that we have this feed shortage, all the guys committed to growing hay already have these other contracts.”
He said it’s the same for many other hay producers in the region.
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“When you drive down here and you see alfalfa fields, none of that is for cow-calf guys,” he said, pointing to irrigated acres as far as the eye can see.
“That’s all being sent to Asia. That’s all export hay.”
Hok said the hay export business isn’t guaranteed to be profitable.
He thought he was prepared for the market fluctuations when he made the move into hay, but last year saw the bottom fall out of the market.
He said he will do well this year, but it will only even out last year’s depressed revenue.
Larry Wenger, chair of the Manitoba Forage & Grassland Association, said he doesn’t hold hay farmers responsible for the feed shortage.
It simply comes down to a long and widespread drought affecting all of the country’s cattle-producing regions, he added.
Domestic production and where the hay is going isn’t an issue in his province, he added.
“We do not have enough forage in Manitoba to feed our herd as it sits right now.”
Hay yields have been hit hard by the weather, and “there are some areas that have no feed at all.”
Wenger highlighted Manitoba’s Interlake region, where “there is no crop, and if there was, the grasshoppers ate it. They are starting to liquidate cows.”
Silage and straw will likely be the primary feed sources, but the quality and quantity will vary across the Prairies.
“The crops that are going to be combined, there won’t be much straw coming off because they are not very tall,” said Wenger.
“It’s going to be a tough year to figure out how to make feed work.”
Drought and the knowledge about how to deal with it is common In the heart of the rangeland that makes up the sagebrush country stretching across southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, known as the Palliser Triangle.
However, even cattle producers who are best adapted for dry conditions are struggling this year.
Scott Lehr, whose family run Shortgrass Ranch is based east of Medicine Hat, Alta., echoed the thoughts of what many in the beef industry say is inevitable, even if the Prairies were soon to receive rain.
“Feed is going to be short and it’s going to be expensive.”
Pastures are dry, and cattle will need to come off to protect the rangeland for next year, said Lehr.
“As they come off, you got to start feeding them,” he said. “Guys planned on using pasture for the year, and since the end of June, the grass hasn’t been growing.”
Selling off herds is another major concern as feed disappears and dugouts run dry.
“I think it’s starting,” said Lehr.
“It’s not like the whole industry is going to one day sell. It’s a producer to producer situation as to what and when they are going to have to do it.”
Converting drought-damaged grain crops into feed will help, but that will take time because insurance assessments need to take place.
“It can’t happen fast enough,” said Lehr.
“If the crops still have some green in them and good, decent feed value, then they need to get that decision made and crop down for greenfeed sooner than later.”
The federal government recently announced it has triggered the livestock tax deferral program, which will allow more of the revenue from drought-forced sales of producers’ breeding herd to be spent replacing them.
