March 14, 2023

Drought biggest issue for US cattle producers, says nutritionist

A beef nutritionist said weather challenges will be some of the biggest concerns for US cattle producers this year.

"We are at the lowest cow herd size in the US in 61 years and the reason for that is 100% the drought," said Dr. Brandon Koch with Kent Nutrition Group.

Koch added that the drought has impacted the cost of production. "The price of feed is high, and even though there's been a couple other events that kind of started that, the drought is what extended it and continued to push that further into the period of time."

He tells Brownfield moisture continues to be limited in US states like Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas.

"Our most western sales person lives north of Kearney, Nebraska," Koch said. "He had said that basically from February to October last year, he got less than three inches of rain."

Koch noted the US cattle herd has decreased 3.6% year-over-year.

- Brownfield