The Canadian Press – Extreme drought makes cattle farmers thin herds, could cause future supply problems
Click here to read the article in The Canadian Press.
This new article published in The Canadian Press covers how extreme weather events caused by climate change are impacting cattle farmers and their herds. These weather events, such as drought, flooding or wildfires, are pushing cattle farmers to thin out their herds. Normally, this would happen every few years but at this point, farmers have had to thin their herds several years in a row. Thinning herds means sending more cattle to slaughter, which in turn leads to a higher supply of beef products in stores. This would usually decrease the price of beef, but due to increased demand and inflation, prices are not dropping. Furthermore, when beef supply decreases in the future, prices will drastically increase.
When there is drought, it also impacts the supply of cattle feed. In 2021, Canadian farmers had to buy feed from the US, which is much more costly than producing it ourselves. The US also relies on buying Canadian feed when they are facing drought conditions. Currently, the US has the lowest number of cows on record. When the conditions are favourable for farmers to rebuild their herds, there will be little supply available; and if these extreme weather events continue to occur, there will not even be a chance for that.
Although there are some mitigation strategies in place, technology is required to help farmers manage their herds and feed. The Canada1Water Project has the tools that these farmers need to find solutions and predict weather patterns. This project focuses specifically on climate change impacts and providing open access data to Canadians. Removing some of the uncertainty from this situation can help farmers plan for what is to come. Farming needs to be a viable operation as the livelihood of many Canadians relies on it.
Click here to read the article in The Canadian Press.
“For the past few years, dry conditions and droughts in both countries have prompted farmers to reduce their herd sizes by sending more cattle to slaughter, which has resulted in increased production of beef products.”
“Cattle producers are used to dealing with extremes in weather. Unfortunately, when you get multiple years in a row, that’s where you start to run out of the feed inventories. And that forces you into more difficult decisions in terms of reducing cattle numbers.”
“Climate change has increased the likelihood of some types of extreme weather across the country, including wildfires and flooding, while drought soil moisture deficits in the Prairies and British Columbia are expected to become more frequent and intense as time progresses, according to Environment Canada.”
Cattle roam in a field near Pigeon Lake, Alta., on May 1, 2022. Experts say an uptick in extreme weather, such as drought, is leading beef farmers in the U.S. and Canada to thin their herds in near-record numbers, which could lead to supply problems in the beef industry over the longer term. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
The Canada1Water blog has highlighted water issues in the Prairies before, check them out here!