By Ryan Hanrahan
Reuters’ Tom Polansek reported that “massive wildfires have burned vast swaths of grazing lands in Nebraska, endangering cattle producers’ plans for production increases that could help ease record-high U.S. beef prices. The loss of grasslands in the second-biggest cattle-producing state removes a feed source for herds and could delay ranchers from expanding as they struggle with widespread drought, state and industry officials said.”
“Fueled by fierce winds, fires have burned nearly 775,000 acres since last week, covering an area about the size of Rhode Island, according to data from the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. It added the causes of the fires are undetermined,” Polansek reported. “The largest Morrill Fire was about 67% contained as of Thursday after being first reported on March 12, the agency said.”
“That amount of land is a grazing resource for about 40,000 cows, said Sherry Vinton, director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. Though cattle deaths were thought to be minimal, producers could delay expansion plans if they cannot find alternative pasture lands or feed, she said,” according to Polansek’s reporting. “‘This will have a definite impact because you are in the heart of cattle country there and that’s the area where you’re going to primarily have breeding stock,’ said Vinton, a fifth-generation rancher.”
Nebraska Farmer’s Curt Arens reported that “even with record-high cattle prices, the rebuild of the national cow herd, many say, is slower than normal due to drought. Now wildfires in the heart of cow country further hinder a rebuild. ‘Cattle futures rallied today [March 16] and aren’t far off record highs from last fall,’ said Bruce Blythe, commodity editor at Farm Futures. ‘So the Nebraska wildfires would seem to support the bullish-tight supply story.'”
“Drought in the Plains remains a major obstacle to any expansion of the U.S. cattle herd,” Arens reported. “‘The Nebraska fires follow February wildfires that burned over 283,000 acres in northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas,’ Blythe said. ‘With so much pastureland burned, combined with market dynamics, including near-record cattle prices and strong beef demand, it’s difficult to see any meaningful expansion in the overall herd any time soon.'”
Source : illinois.edu