Extreme drought and inflationary pressures are forcing U.S. farmers in Western states to sell off their cattle herds in greater numbers, at levels not seen in over a decade.
Nearly 80% of the western region of the U.S. is experiencing extreme drought conditions — and has been for nearly a year, according to the America Farm Bureau Federation. But the most recent week-long heatwave, impacting nearly 80 million people across the country, has brought things to a boiling point for farmers and ranchers.
"We haven't had this kind of movement of cows to market in a decade, since 2011, which was our last really big drought," said David Anderson, a professor of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M. The small sale barn in Elk City, Oklahoma which services four small counties normally sees 200-300 cows on sale day. Last week they saw 1,000, according to Monte Tucker, a state board member of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau.
"It's twice as high as it was two years ago. We were buying that feed for US$200 a ton and today it's $400 plus. So, feed's doubled — that's another crunch," said Tucker.