Parched pastures likely to force cull of cattle herds
Abnormally dry conditions persist across southern regions of Alberta
Alberta ranchers struggling to feed their animals in the midst of a withering drought could be forced to sell off cattle prematurely just to make it through the winter, an industry group is warning.
Alberta Beef Producers chair Charlie Christie said he informed the province’s agriculture ministry last week that pasture conditions in parts of the province have deteriorated to the point where some ranchers have practically no grass left. He said he wanted to make the government aware some producers will likely be forced to cull their herds.
“It’s too early to put numbers to, but I think the situation is here. Because even if it starts raining tomorrow, we’re not going to recover,” Christie said. “I’m quite sure we are going to see some liquidation of cows — we just don’t know how much.”
While parts of Alberta — particularly in the north — have seen adequate rains this summer, abnormally dry conditions persist in the southern half of the province, especially in the area around Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. Drought is also widespread throughout southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
The drought comes on the heels of a harsh winter, which saw ranchers spending more than usual on feed to get their cattle through until spring. Christie said many producers are now scrambling to feed their animals as grazing land dries up.
“Anecdotally, I’m hearing there are people thinking they don’t have much more than a week’s grazing left, and they’re not sure what they’re going to do,” he said. “There’s not a lot of feed left in the country. We fed a lot of our reserve last year and through the winter.”
Alberta’s cattle industry has been struggling for more than a decade to rebuild to the size it was before the BSE crisis of 2003. But if ranchers decide they cannot afford to feed their animals through the winter, they may choose to trim their herds by selling animals for slaughter.
“There’s some tough decisions ahead, for a lot of people,” Christie said. “We just don’t know how bad it’s going to be yet.”
The dry weather is also affecting crop land. Ralph Wright, head of agri-meteorology for Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, said while thunderstorm activity has given spotty relief to parts of the province, other areas remain parched. He pointed to the July 24 edition of the Alberta Crop report, which predicted yields in southern Alberta this harvest season will be about 75 per cent of the 12-year average.
“So it’s low,” Wright said. “But that doesn’t account for the variability. There will be some farms that are going to be average or even above — and there will be some that are not.”
Kevin Serfas, who farms northeast of Lethbridge in the Lomond area, said his fields have received just 63 millimetres of rain since he started seeding and nothing at all since the second weekend in June. He said he expects to have to make a crop insurance claim for the third year in a row.
“I’ve been farming for 20 years on the family farm, and I’ve never had a production claim for the 17 years prior,” Serfas said. “But this is the third year of drought now for us. At the beginning of the year, we were talking with some different insurers, and they figured the chances of us having another dry year like we did last year was one in 100. Well, we sort of hit that one in 100 again.”
Taber-area farmer Jason Saunders said moisture conditions in his area are 50 per cent below normal levels. Some producers have already started harvesting — which he said is not a good sign because it indicates a stressed crop that has essentially “given up.” Still, he acknowledged the unpredictability of weather is part and parcel of farming.
“It’s not the first time we’ve ever had a drought in my farming years, so I guess I kind of take it in stride,” Saunders said. “But it’s never very fun. Expectations are not very high for this crop.”