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Alabama cattle producers suffering through drought
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)--Darrell Haynes gazes out from the tool shed on his cattle farm and sees but one color. "Every direction I look it's just brown. It's depressing," he said. Haynes, who farms north of Birmingham in Cullman County, lives in the middle of what the government says is the worst drought currently gripping the United States. All or part of 23 counties in north Alabama are parched amid the area's worst dry spell since record-keeping began in the 1890s. Like other ranchers across Alabama, Haynes is hoping for the best but dealing with an ugly reality: He can't grow enough hay to feed his cattle, and prices are getting so high he can't afford to buy hay, either. So Haynes plans to sell 400 head in mid-June, four times the normal amount for this time of year. "We can't afford to feed them," said Haynes, president of the cattlemen's association in Cullman County, Alabama's leading county for cattle. Alabama ranchers have started selling off cattle for fear they won't have enough hay or grain to feed them through the summer and, especially, through next winter. State agriculture officials, meanwhile, are trying to figure out ways to feed the cattle to keep the state's herd from being thinned too much. The options include having farmers in other states temporarily keep Alabama breeder cows. "We're looking at a situation never before seen in this state," said Ron Sparks, the state agriculture commissioner. In early June, 27,100 cows or calves were sold at state livestock auctions, compared to 16,668 during the same period last year. That is an increase of 63 percent. The sell-off is even worse in the driest parts of north Alabama. For example, 2,025 cows or calves were sold at auction last week at the Cullman Stockyard, which is a 135 percent increase over the 861 sold during the same period last year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture numbers. Many of the cattle being sold are calves that cattlemen normally would have fattened up during the summer and sold in the fall, cattlemen said. Some cattlemen have been left with no choice but to sell their entire herds, effectively getting out of the business. "I've got three herd sellouts today," Jim Martin, manager of the Northwest Alabama Livestock Auction in Russellville, said June 11. The glut of Alabama cattle on the market isn't likely to trim beef prices by a lot. Ephraim Leibtag, food price economist with the USDA's Economic Research Service, said the sales could help stabilize beef prices temporarily, but prices could go up within a year because fewer animals will be on the market. About $500 million worth of cattle is sold in Alabama each year. Billy Powell, executive vice president of the Alabama Cattlemen's Association, said this year's sales will be high. But next year he estimated the numbers may be off 20 percent--$100 million or more--because selling the breeder cows will mean fewer calves. "It's going to put a lot of cattle producers out of business," Powell said. Sparks said his agency is seeking ways to help. State agriculture officials are asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to get federal conservation reserve land around the state released for grazing, Sparks said. They also are asking insurance companies to let drought-withered corn they had written off as a loss to be used as a substitute feed. 8/13/07 Date: 7/26/07
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