Be Drought-Conscious when Ready to Restock Cattle

Nationally, beefcattle numbers continue to decline to historic levels.The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported cattle inventory for all cattle and calves totaled 90.8 million head on Jan. 1. In Texas, the nation’s largest beefcow-producing state, cattle inventory fell to 4.365 million head.

“That’s the smallest cow herd since 1960,” Anderson said. “This decline was fueled by the drought.”

The USDA report revealed the national 2011 calf crop was estimated at 35.3 million head, down 1 percent from 2010. The USDA reports it’s the smallest calf crop since the 34.9 million born in 1950.

“The Southwest region, which is Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, slaughtered almost 200,000 more beefcows in 2011 than the year before,” Anderson said.He said the decline in the nation’s cattle herd continued the trend to fewer cattle that was kicked off by the increase in costs that began in 2006.

“Skyrocketing feed costs beginning in the fall of 2006 began a wave of herd culling as livestock producers nationwide tried to adjust to unprofitable conditions,” Anderson said. “This herd liquidation was made even worse by the 2011 drought in Texas.”

With recent rainfall turning pastureland green again, ranchers need to be cautious about restocking, said Larry Redmon, state forage specialist in College Station.He said it will take three to four inches a month and, depending on the species, an entire year for pasture recovery. Meanwhile, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service will be offering a statewide educational initiative focusing on rebuilding cattle herds in the state.

“With the cow herd at such a critically low level, Texas will start to lose infrastructure if cow numbers do not increase soon,” said Ron Gill, livestock specialist and associate department head for animal science at Texas A&M University in College Station.

He said the series of in-depth educational programs will be held across the state throughout April and through the year. Kickoff programs are scheduled for Midland and Abilene in West Texas. For dates and schedules, contact Gill’s office at 979-845-3579.

A world class panel of beef industry experts will provide a futuristic look into how the cattle industry will transform over the next 15 years at the annual Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association convention in Fort Worth next week. The session begins at 10:30 a.m. March 31 at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

“The cattle industry has changed dramatically since TSCRA was founded in 1877,” said Joe Parker Jr., the organization’s president.“Ranchers are facing challenges such as smaller margins, overreaching government regulations, severe weather patterns and the impact of a fragile global economy. This panel of experts will help give Texas ranchers the insight they need to make future decisions regarding their operations.”

Top executives include Rob Aukerman, president of U.S. Operations at Elanco Animal Health; Kevin Good, CattleFax senior market analyst and manager of corporate accounts; Bill Rupp, JBS Inc., president of beef division; and John Ryan, president and CEO for Rabo AgriFinance.These experts will look 15 years into the future and predict the transformation the beef industry will undergo between now and 2027.

For more information including a complete schedule of convention events, visit tscra.org or call 512-469-0171.Jerry Lackey writes about agriculture. Contact him at jlackey@wcc.net or 325-949-2291.