Ripple effects troublesome for cattle producers

By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter

With the sun now shining, it’s hard to believe that the results of an early and seemingly extra-long winter, along with several heavy snowfalls late in the season may have some rippling effects for cattle producers.
Early March’s cold temperatures and heavy snowfall challenged cattle producers with the task of getting to newborn calves almost as soon as they were born to ensure they didn’t freeze, were properly cleaned and dried off, healthy, and could easily access plenty of clean and warm bedding to avoid illness.
In the last couple of years, farmers have been graced with good temperatures in March; however, this year’s weather conditions came as a bit of a shock and a reality check.
“We (were) out there a lot more, putting in more time checking so we (could) catch (the calves) as soon as they hit the ground,” said local rancher Lindsey Koole of Koole Livestock, who added that the late snow made everything more time consuming, challenging and has them using up some of their resources earlier than normal.
Despite their best efforts fighting the snow and mud, many cattle producers are feeling the loss with some calves displaying frozen ears and tails – which may in turn fall off.
This year’s harsh winter follows an unfortunately dry early summer last year without timely rains for the grass, rainfall that took place too late in the year, and an early winter with snow falling in early October 2017.
Because farmers didn’t get the rain they needed for their pastures and hay fields early enough last summer, many pastures dried up quickly, which meant producers had to start bale feeding their cattle about a month earlier than usual.
In general, some farmers were not able to harvest good hay crops last year, and now because of needing to feed their cattle earlier, and in turn also needing to bale feed their cattle later in the year, some producers are at risk of running out of hay, if they already haven’t.
Because of this, prices for hay have also skyrocketed. According to a local farmer, last fall you could find first-cut hay bales for around $100 per ton right off the field. Now, on the Alberta Agriculture and Forestry website, second-cut hay is priced between $200 per ton or $260 per ton delivered.
“Everybody who has hay doesn’t want to sell any. Because of the long winter everybody is holding onto their hay,” said Chris Jensen of Crowfoot Valley Ranch. “A lot of times people have reserves of hay from the year before, but I don’t think that was the case for a lot of people. Everybody ran out of grass early because it was dry. Now this year everyone will be using up all their hay, so nobody is going to have two years worth of hay sitting, it’s going to be cleaned up.”
Jensen added that farmers need to be careful next year as well, because many farmers won’t have excess hay reserves and people will be buying more hay earlier in the year.
The ripple effect of a dry spring followed by an early and extra wet and harsh winter may be seen for a few years. Supply for hay may continue to be in demand for as long as farmers are hindered with building up their reserves.
“Better be careful next year … supply will be in demand,” said Jensen.