July 15, 2022

Texas' sweltering weather forces cattle ranchers to panic sell herds

Scorching weather over 37°C in Texas state, US, has forced cattle ranchers to panic sell their herds as it is too expensive to maintain livestock, Bloomberg reported.

Jack Robinson, an 83-year-old auctioneer, said feed, fertiliser, and fuel prices have been skyrocketing. Additionally, the state lacks both water and hay. As a result, Texas sale barns are hosting a firehouse-sized cattle auction. Just over an hour's drive east of Dallas, Emory Livestock Auction Inc. is experiencing nearly quadruple normal rates due to ranchers going into panic mode.

Scott Frazier, a crop and livestock farmer in coastal Nueces County who recently sold about 100 cows, said, the weather is dry and there's no hay around, so it is challenging to defend keeping the livestock.

Cattle frequently move from sale barns to feedyards to gain market-ready fat. This indicates that there will be more beef supplies available soon, but fewer calf-bearing cows in the years to come, which translates to shrinking herds and higher beef prices, which have already been rising.

There is little chance of the dry weather getting much better. After a dry June, hay was starting to wither, and some farmers were already using up supplies normally reserved for the winter. Profitability in the cattle industry appears bleak given recent forecasts for little rain and the highest corn prices in a decade.

Farmers towing cattle in trailers clogged the roads near the Emory auction earlier this week. In order to perform better during drought conditions, buyers from Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi were looking for animals.

Robinson said he has been in this business for 60 years, and has never seen lines that long.

-      Bloomberg