By Grant Winterer
Many of Nebraska’s beef producers are considering selling off their calves earlier than normal this year after wildfires torched hundreds of thousands of acres typically used for grazing.
That means tough financial decisions for beef producers for both short and long-term survivability. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Associate Professor and Extension Specialist Elliott Dennis explained that some of those economic effects may not be felt until later in the year.
“We haven’t seen a huge decrease in price,” Dennis said. “But normally it’d be typical for the fall, when we have a lot of animals coming off grass. We’d have a lot of animals coming to market at that time, which means price tends to come down at that time. “
The state’s beef herd has been steadily declining since 2019. It’s down 20% in the past year alone.
Dennis said that producers don’t make those decisions lightly, as weaning and selling calves out of state would further undermine efforts to rebuild the herd.
“When a producer makes that decision today, they’re thinking, ‘What is the potential for that thing to look like in several years?’” Dennis said.
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