| Drought forcing more cattle through Tennessee auctions |
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| By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Crops aren’t the only agricultural victims of this year’s weather extremes in Tennessee; cattle are also traveling out of state at a faster pace than usual, thanks to lack of forage, hay and – in some places – water.
“I mean, their pastures have just been so short, that cutting hay has been limited,” observed Louie Langell, officer in charge of USDA livestock and grain market news. “When you get in a drought condition, farmers are limited on their forage … and the only way to counter that is to buy more feed, sometimes from out of state at a higher cost, or sell off some of their herd.”
Based in Nashville, Langell covers the results of 17 auctions, a sampling of the total across the state. Of those, he said in June and July that 51,000 more head of cattle have sold to out-of-state buyers than for the same two months in 2006, which is approximately a 60 percent increase.
More cows moving
Of those, 12,600 were cows. That’s 144 percent more cows than auctioned out of Tennessee last year. And even last year, which was dry and forced a higher sale of livestock than average, doesn’t measure up to this summer.
“This year’s (increase) is certainly noticeable,” Langell said, adding he’s covered sales in Tennessee for 22 years, and noted of the volume of all cattle auctioned thus far, “I’ve never seen runs like this - not this accelerated.”
“I’d say it’s probably triple,” said Jason Bailey of cow sales at the Knoxville Livestock Auction in Mascot, Tenn., a business he purchased from longtime owner Lafayette Williams in June. Knoxville Livestock runs an auction every Wednesday except holidays, and a few special sales each year.
“I’m seeing 500 head a week, and I haven’t seen those numbers since the early ’90s,” he added. “That’s helped the farmers around here, but we just hate to see them go.”
Bailey explained many more bred cows and cow-calf pairs are being purchased by Western buyers in Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri, from regions that have received more rain than Tennessee – at least up until mid-August, when temperatures led to shipping problems. Transporting cattle that far in such heat, he pointed out, stresses the animals.
“Now we’re even starting to see some cows come through who are losing weight,” he said. Not surprising, since he said a 4x5-foot roll of hay is now selling for $50-$60, roughly triple its price in a normal season. “If you sell your cattle this year (rather) than buy hay, they’re better off, because it’s so expensive.”
Statewide, Langell said prices have declined slowly with no major drops. “The only good thing there is the markets have held up pretty well,” he said. But, “some of the buyers are (now) reluctant to buy cattle out of a state with 100-degree temperatures because of health, the stress situation.”
Bailey agreed prices at his auction stayed relatively high even with increased supply, since feed lots in the Midwest and West were willing to buy the extra cattle. Demand since mid-August has dropped, however, and his auction prices between then and Aug. 28 had dropped an average of $7-$10 per cwt.
“They’ll get sold,” he said. “May not be as desirable a price, but they’ll get sold.”
Smaller calves
Bailey reported up until a few weeks ago that he was moving about 2,000 head of cattle each week, compared to half of what Knoxville Livestock handled a year before. That was before eastern Tennessee received some rain, which temporarily eased conditions enough that sales backed off to about 1,200 a week. With a month of dry weather, however, he expects numbers to buoy back to nearly 1,500.
Most of the animals auctioned are calves, which are usually a big market in the autumn. This fall, however, Bailey expects a slower sales season because of how many have already been auctioned off. Rather than waiting until their calves top 500 pounds, a lot of producers have been selling them much smaller.
“It’s not bad to wean a 300-pound calf,” he said, explaining in Tennessee this is usually done right before sale time, “but it’s better to wait until they’re 400 or 500 pounds” because it is less stressful on the animal.
Langell predicted, “At some point in time, we’re going to have a calf drop.” Not only have increased calf sales depleted supply for fall auctions, it will mean lighter runs for next year, as well. This is bad news in a state where cattle are the number-one agricultural product.
At an Aug. 28 sale in Dickson, Tenn., he reported producers auctioned off 150 calves each weighing less than 200 pounds, a far cry from the desired average of 550 pounds.
Right now, Langell said the central region of the state is the driest, extending somewhat west. He did not have August totals as of press time, but said last week that the month’s numbers were equal to or even worse than June’s and July’s.
Until recently, farmers only worried about feeding winter hay and buying more, but lately, Langell said ponds and streams are drying up and the producers are having to haul water.
As for other livestock, Langell said the impact of drought is minimal or nonexistent because they’re not raised on forage.
There aren’t many Tennessee hogs and, like the chickens, they are confined.
“And goats can live on anything,” he pointed out.
He has heard horse owners are searching for hay to buy, but surmised sales numbers wouldn’t be as high since horses are for pleasure and companionship rather than as a food income base. |
| 9/5/2007 |
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