Price of feed for livestock is high, but it could get worse for Alberta farmers

With spring right around the corner, cattle farmers are becoming nervous, wondering if there will be enough moisture for crops. Hay for cattle is becoming sparse and expensive, and the market for beef is dipping low while herds of cattle are being sold off in order to make a marginal profit.

But with recent articles in the media, a concern has been raised: Will there be another harsh drought this summer and will it put cattle farmers out of business?

“Dry weather (this spring) will aggravate (the) situations more in the cattle industry.”

Statistics Canada reported herd numbers were down 6.5 per cent - 120,000 cows  - as of Jan. 1.

Farmers worry that dry conditions will cause beef cattle such as these near Strathmore to become a liability as the market worsens.

Photo: Pauline Wyntjes/Calgary Journal

“The beef industry has been struggling since the drought in 2002, and then they were hit by BSE (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease) in 2003, and now we are in a recession; it’s part of the natural cycle in the beef industry,” said Smith.

Cattle farmers have already begun to sell cattle for lower prices, but Viterra feed sales manager, Phil Lee, thinks there are plenty of feed alternatives for beef producers.

“In the past, farmers have fed their beef cattle straw, and other farmers add a grain pellet to the straw to add extra protein,” Lee said. “It’s not overly expensive either, each cow needs five to 10 pounds of grain pellets in their diet to sustain proper body function and it’s $120 dollars per tonne."

"I don’t think there should be a concern for a harsh drought; I’m suspecting a wet summer,” Lee added.

“The major moisture is rainfall in spring, but as for right now there is no need for panic, it’s hard to predict what will happen,” Smith said.

The cattle farmers near Strathmore think differently. Cathy Janzen raises beef cattle near Strathmore and believes that cattle farmers are in for a serious wake-up call.

“The way the markets are going, you’re not going to be able to feed your cattle or yourself. You won’t be able to farm and before you know it, we’re going to be running out of cows.”

“If there is no moisture this summer, farmers are going to start pulling out of the business and selling off their cattle and the guys that say we shouldn’t worry (about a drought), well they don’t need to find feed for their cattle,” Janzen said.