Beef cattle producers should watch drought cycle before buying replacement cattle
January 10, 2014
Beef cattle producers should watch drought cycle before buying replacement cattle
January 10, 2014
http://today.agrilife.org/2014/01/10/be ... nt-cattle/MILANO – Even though parts of Texas have received beneficial rainfall, experts urge cattle producers to be cautious when thinking about restocking herds.
Dr. Larry Redmon, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service state forage specialist, told beef producers at the recent Central Texas Cow-Calf Clinic in Milano that 71 percent of the state is abnormally dry.
"We are in pretty good shape here in the Brazos Valley, but if you look at the data, about half of the state is in some type of drought conditions," Redmon said. "This cycle started in 1995. These cycles last 22 to 25 years and we may not be out of this dry cycle until 2020. If you do the math, we've still got some potential for dry weather. You might want to be cautious about restocking or buying a bunch of cattle."