December 31, 2007

 

Cumulative storm damage shows up in us plains cattle feedlots

 

 

US Plains states feedlot cattle are beginning to show the cumulative effects of a series of winter storms in December, but so far, death and weight losses are said to be about normal.

 

Feedlot managers, cattle brokers and a Kansas veterinarian agreed that Kansas feedlots appear to be hit the hardest by winter precipitation and fluctuating temperatures. Nebraska lots have seen colder temperatures and more snow, but temperatures have stayed cold to keep the ground frozen, a situation that cattle can deal with pretty well.

 

A broker and feedlot manager said feedlots in central Kansas may have seen the most moisture so far this winter, along with a band of lots from Dodge City, Kan., north. However, there aren't as many feedlots in central Kansas as there are out west, so there could be more health and death losses in this area just because there are more cattle.

 

What hurts cattle the most is getting wet, especially if the wind blows, feedlot managers said. This year's storms generally haven't been associated with lots of wind, which has helped, but warming temperatures after the storms melted ice and snow and thawed the ground.

 

That led to muddy feedlot conditions, and no matter what feedlot employees did to scrape the pens, the cattle are laying on wet, cold ground, feedlot managers said.

 

The managers, who didn't want to be identified, said costs have gone up in terms of weight loss and added feed and work load. One said heifers weighed Thursday when compared with heifers weighed on Dec. 15 cost feeders US$3 per hundredweight more or about US$30 a head.

 

Another feedlot manager said cattle weight gains were variable, with some weighed Thursday costing US$2 to US$3 per hundredweight more than those going to slaughter just a month ago before the winter storms.

 

A Kansas broker said cattle generally have lost about 50 pounds in actual weight loss and lost gains from the storms.

 

Both feedlot managers count themselves as having aggressive pen-scraping standards to help the cattle deal with the winter weather as well as they can. Both said, however, that pens remained damp at best and wet at worst no matter what they did.

 

Health problems have increased, but managers and veterinary sources say the problem still seems about normal to them, realizing that it is a judgment call. They said exacerbating the problem is their inability to "ride" the pens on horseback. When cowboys walk the pens, their viewing angle is less optimal, and they can miss the early stages of illness, they said.

 

Last year, feedlot cattle suffered cumulative health, weight and death losses as wave after wave of wintry weather swept over the region, and this year is shaping up to be similar, they said.