December 29, 2006

 

Winter storm to stress US cattle in western Plains

 

 

The winter storm now developing in Colorado will add stress to feedlot cattle in the west central Plains, but defining the boundary for the worst of the storm is hard to do at this point, said meteorologists and cattle traders Thursday (Dec 28).

 

The storm comes a week after the last blizzard, which dumped up to two feet or more of snow on parts of Denver and eastern Colorado. Rain and snow also hit parts of the Texas Panhandle and southern Kansas.

 

Feedlot cattle endured rain and sometimes ice and snow from the storm directly, and then they had to deal with muddy feedlot conditions, feeders, brokers and market analysts said. Warm weather the last few days has allowed feedlot managers to scrape pens and generally get caught up with maintenance, but some of the cattle are just now getting over the health issues related to the wet pens.

 

Two Kansas veterinarians earlier this week said conditions varied from feedlot to feedlot, but that the muddy lots increased the number of sick and dying animals. It's normal for the first storms of the season to set feedlots back with increased veterinary and death costs, however.

 

Meteorologist Joel Burgio at Meteorlogix, said the storm's centre likely would be in north-east Colorado, but arms could curve down and reach into the northern Texas Panhandle and up across western Nebraska and into central South Dakota. As the storm moves east and in the more southern reaches of the Plains, it will have more rain and less snow associated with it, Burgio said.

 

The rain equivalent of moisture from the storm could range from 0.75 inch to 2 inches, Burgio said. Snow amounts in south-western Kansas and North-western Texas could be around 4 to 8 inches after raining first.

 

In North-western Kansas and surrounding parts of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska, snow amounts could be heavier--in a range from 7 to 15 inches, he said. These areas are expected to receive more snow than rain.

 

Temperatures could be above normal through Friday for most of the storm's coverage area, turning colder for the weekend and into early next week, Burgio said. Highs Sunday and Monday, for instance, could be in the 30s Fahrenheit with overnight lows in the upper teens to low 20s.

 

Most of the wind associated with this system "will be on the back side of the storm," he said. Blowing snow could cause problems in the more northern areas that get less rain because the snow will be drier.

 

Jerry Stowell, market analyst and cattle broker at Country Futures Inc, in Frankfort, Kansas, like many trade sources, was taking a wait-and-see attitude about the storm.

 

"We're just going to have to see what it brings," Stowell said. There's no arctic air associated with the storm, which will minimize health problems among the cattle.

 

However, since the cattle will get wet, temperature extremes are important, trade sources said. Cattle can handle dry cold fairly well, but they don't do well with getting wet and cold.