As area ranchers crossed their fingers for rain Tuesday, they said even a big storm won’t be enough to improve the outlook for area livestock operations.

Ranchers are straining from the dry spell that has parched pastures and pushed them to sell off cattle en masse.

“A 1-inch rain will brighten people’s spirits but it won’t do a thing to break this drought,” said Alan Day, who manages Whiskey Canyon Ranch and was preparing to sell off about half of the ranch’s 525 cows.

Steve Rougeau (left), of Gollier Horse Ranch in Gholson, watches Jody Brisco of West Feed load his truck with cattle feed.
Jerry Larson / Waco Tribune-Herald

“There’s no subsoil moisture right now,” he said, adding the area would need more like 4 or 5 inches to make a dent.

And the drought isn’t limited to Texas.

“It’s up to Oklahoma, over to Louisiana and into Mexico,” said Day, who said more than 20 states are in a drought.

Pastures can’t sustain herds and ranchers are selling off their cows with possible long-term impacts.

“Cattle guys are having to de-stock almost nationwide,” Day said. “The drought is gonna impact cattle markets for the next four or five years.”

Jim Sartwell, the Texas Farm Bureau’s director of public policy, said the drought will continue a downward trend in the number of cows in the country and in Texas.

“There are fewer cattle in the U.S. right now than we had since the 1950s,” Sartwell said.

He predicts the drought will put some ranchers out of business while pushing up the price of burgers and steaks.

“If a steak costs $51 instead of $32, you get people who quit ordering it and they don’t go back,” Sartwell said. “That’s what worries me.”

Ranchers who can maintain their business through the drought could stand to gain.

“Prices are going to be really good for the people who survive,” Sartwell said.

But not all ranchers were optimistic.

“Some will weather the storm, but it’s gonna be real hard, and you might end up holding the bag,” said Keith Nelson, a Crawford rancher.

Nelson has a stocker cow operation, which means he buys calves, feeds them wheat and oats for a year and sells them to feed yards.

Nelson said his grain fields were tapped out and he had to feed his cattle meal and supplements, but the cost of doing so has exploded.

“I shipped the last (cow) off the other day,” he said.

Nelson said he’s concerned he’ll come out worse for wear from the drought, “but you gotta try and stay in there regardless because you’ve got all this equipment and land involved, so you can’t quit.”

As ranchers’ pastures are exhausted, business has picked up for feed sellers and cattle auctions.

Usually winter is the busy season for feed stores, but the drought has changed that.

“I’m running all night tonight and all night Saturdays, which is unusual for this time of year,” said Donna Charanza, with West Feeds in West.

“It’s bittersweet” Charanza said, because even with all the business, the drought is expected to reduce the overall number of cows in Texas.

“Yes, we’re busy now, but we wonder how long they can hold out,” she said.

At the nearby West Auction, owner Ted Uptmore said the company sold 2,050 head of cattle Thursday.

According to his son Brian Uptmore, auctioneer and cattle manager, that’s nearly double what they usually sell for this time in June.

Ted Uptmore said the silver lining to the drought is it hasn’t coincided with low cattle prices.

“The best thing about the drought period is cattle are worth a lot more money than they’ve been,” he said.

Next year

But he worried that the cows being sold, which are largely going to be slaughtered, would reduce the overall number of cattle in the country and in Texas.

“The bad thing is where are the cows to have calves for next year,” Uptmore said.

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

757-5707

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