drought in south

tamarack

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Jan 30, 2010
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Peace River area north Alberta
Heard today that there is a major drought shaping somewhere in the USA people are saying feed grain prices are going up because of it and cattle are slipping a bit. Any truth to it or is it just another ploy by the auctions to low ball our cattle? I am selling some tomorrow and that is word the company rep told me but I haven't heard anything so far.
 
Caustic Burno":1zzws06j said:
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
Not bad at all--sure seen it worse for this time of year.

from their "looking ahead" segment:

Over the next 5-7 days, there is a good chance of precipitation from the plains to the upper Midwest, with more than an inch anticipated from northern Wisconsin into eastern Nebraska and south into Oklahoma and Arkansas. A storm system will move into the Pacific Northwest, potentially bringing up to 4 inches of rain into portions of Washington. In the southeast from Florida up the Carolinas coast, there is a good opportunity for heavy rain as well. A warming pattern looks to bring above-normal temperatures over much of the United States from the Great Basin into the northeast, and high temperatures will be up to 10-12 degrees Fahrenheit above normal in the central plains.

The 6-10 day outlook continues to show higher-than-normal chances for above-normal precipitation over most of the southern plains, Midwest, and Pacific Northwest. The best chances for above-normal temperatures are in the middle and eastern sections of the United States, from the Rocky Mountains and to the east. Chances for cooler-than-normal temperatures are greatest along the west coast.
 
Last week we had a 2 foot rain, there was a drop about every 2 feet. Outside of that and a couple of mists, it hasn't rained since October. Drought is a pretty fair assessment. The wheat is blue. I imagine a lot will be disced under or hayed- if possible.
 
Widespread drought for the most part and severe conditions in specific areas.

Lakes are gone for the most part being 10 to 18 feet low, which quantifies the "widespread". Some of that is accumulative for the last several years with springs completely dried out. But there are no reverse trends going on anywhere.
 
All that country from western OK across the TX panhandle into NM, farther down into west and central TX, up into southeast CO, western KS and southwestern NE that you see in severe and exceptional drought on that map? That's a lot of country, pretty much all of it mostly farming and ranching country - from irrigated cropland to range/pasture. There's such a shortage of available water that even irrigation is anywhere from limited to impossible, and even a lot of areas that still have a little grass don't have water for cattle. It's definitely enough to have pretty far-reaching effects.

Granted, it's not covering as much country as it has much of the past few years (maybe that's what greybeard is referring to), but it still covers plenty of area and where it is it's serious. I don't know a lot about the west coast areas, but they look and sound awfully serious too.
 
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Best I can tell that they're saying is when feed prices go up and cattle prices remain steady more cattle are sold and the cattle prices drop. Huh? What did I just say? :lol:
 
melking--

It is really about economics, which is entirely based on supply and demand.

Feed prices go up
It costs more to finish out the beef
Feedlots buy fewer steers or none at all
(drop in demand)
which causes an excess of supply because there are lots of extra steers available
which in turn drives the price down because nobody wants to feed them

this is also because we as cattle raisers and also the feedlot guy ...we are price TAKERS. Beef is a basic staple commodity and you have to take the price offered as bid. Only the seedstock and registered breeders can try and name their price and avoid being a price taker. The rest of us regular producers are price takers.

It is no different for many products, unless the government has subsidized it, and then its a whole different thing. We certainly don't want the government to subsidize or get involved in the cattle industry.
 
Commercialfarmer":188ira0f said:
Last week we had a 2 foot rain, there was a drop about every 2 feet. Outside of that and a couple of mists, it hasn't rained since October. Drought is a pretty fair assessment. The wheat is blue. I imagine a lot will be disced under or hayed- if possible.

True here too! Have only had 4.0 inches in past 9 months. Only 0.75" this year, but had 0.4" earlier this week.

Not looking good by a long shot!
 
There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.5 million lactating dairy cows in that dark red blotch on the left side of CB's map. Diversified farmers are pulling the water from the annual crops in an attempt to save the permanent plantings so the feed has to come from out of state and with milk prices being what they are right now, they will pay through the nose to get these cows fed.
On average, 1/3 of what's on your plate comes from this same area, so get ready for your grocery bill to go up!
 
The drought has a death grip on the southwest
Wheat crop is pretty much finished in tx and sw ok
Most have turned cattle in on it already
I was in Hutchinson ks yesterday and the wheats hanging on there

West of I-35 and north of I-20 up into Ks is in bad shape where I travel
Lakes are dried up or close to it
Tanks/ponds that have never gone dry are empty
Zero ground moisture and no real hope for putting in a summer crop
 
Running Arrow Bill":3dg22jgo said:
Commercialfarmer":3dg22jgo said:
Last week we had a 2 foot rain, there was a drop about every 2 feet. Outside of that and a couple of mists, it hasn't rained since October. Drought is a pretty fair assessment. The wheat is blue. I imagine a lot will be disced under or hayed- if possible.

True here too! Have only had 4.0 inches in past 9 months. Only 0.75" this year, but had 0.4" earlier this week.

Not looking good by a long shot!
Neighbor keeps a note pad in his pocket. He keeps track of "rainfall"....3 and 7/10ths since Jan 1.....should be close to 12.
 
So sorry to hear what is happening to our southern neighbours I think I will quit bitching about the dump of snow we got this week. Had no idea what was happening down there, I am rooting for you.
 
A few years ago lots of folks with old wells had to have 20'-40' of pipe added to their well. First you suck sand and your filters clog up fast, then you have no water.
 

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