Faced with too much rain in the east and not enough moisture in the west, Manitoba’s cattle producers are looking at a poor forage crop across most of the province, says a forage specialist with Manitoba Agriculture.
And if growing conditions don’t turn around quickly in the dry southwest, it’s likely that producers will have to sell a portion of their herd, said Jane Thornton, who works for Manitoba Agriculture in Souris.
“The forage crop wasn’t very good last year. And (with) such a cold, long winter, cattle producers started running out of feed,” said Thornton.
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“A lot of (cattle) went out to pasture (early) and now the pasture looks like it’s going to be short … If things don’t smarten up here pretty quick, I think we’ll see people taking cattle to market.”
The southwest is not the only region of Manitoba where producers are coping with poor forage conditions, said Glenn Friesen, business development specialist for forage crops with Manitoba Agriculture.
Heavy rains in late June and early July in the eastern half of the province and the Interlake soaked the first cut of alfalfa.
“Only about half of it was baled. The remaining 50 percent received in the range of 90 to 100 mm. We know that’s going to be fairly low quality.”
Friesen said the cool spring, combined with more winterkill than usual and freezing rains in February and March, has reduced first cut yields across the province.
“Probably as low as 50 percent of normal in some areas,” he said.
First cut yields are also below normal in the southwest, said Thornton, who noted that a lack of hay stockpiles and poor pasture conditions are also worrying for producers in the region.
“I don’t see in most guys’ feed yards very much feed standing around,” Thorton said, attributing the lack of inventories to the long and cold winter and a poor forage crop in 2008.
The lack of feed forced producers to move cattle to pasture in a cool spring with slow plant growth.
“Some of the pastures I’ve driven by look like they’re already done,” said Thornton, who has heard that a few grass fed producers have moved their cattle back to the feedlot.
“For grazed grassers, you want good quality and abundant forage. That’s really the only way you can get weight gains on them. (But) pastures have already petered out,” she said.
In sharp contrast, producers in Manitoba’s Interlake just got their cattle to pasture in late June, Friesen said.
“It’s been so wet, they didn’t really want to damage it (the pasture) and ruin it for possible fall grazing or for next season,” he noted.
The slow start for the forage crop across most of Manitoba is troubling, Friesen added, because conditions in the spring and early summer usually determine production for the remainder of the season.
“When it comes to pastures, the majority of the yield is set up in the first part of the season,” he said.
There is a chance that things could turn around, but Friesen expects it will be a challenging year.
“Careful (pasture) management will be needed to help them last into the fall.”
