Beef producers face weather-related challenges

A dry summer, heavy fall rains and a harsh winter have created challenges for beef producers trying to get their cattle fattened up and ready for market.

David Simmons, a beef producer in Mt. Pleasant, measured 23 inches of rain and 13 inches of snow from August to December 2018. For seven months, he said he fought mud and ice.

'It just made everything really muddy. I didn't accomplish much,” Simmons said with a chuckle.

The polar vortex that followed in January brought a different challenge as cattle needed extra feed to stay warm while also slowing down weight gain. A year ago, Simmons sold his cattle at the end of December 2017 and into January 2018. This year, he didn't begin selling to harvesting facilities until the end of January 2019 and into the middle of March.

The extra feed needed to keep cattle warm and the late sell date to get them to make weight cut down on profitability some, Simmons said. However because producers were behind in getting cattle ready for market, the cattle that was available was purchased for a premium from harvesting facilities, Simmons said.

'I had to delay that first load selling by a week,” Simmons said. 'I never had to do that in my life. It was icy, getting semis down that gravel road and gates unthawed, it was impossible until we got a little bit of a thaw.”

Patrick Wall, beef specialist with the Iowa State Extension Office, said that southeast Iowa is coming out of one of the harshest winters on record. Cattle used a lot of energy just to stay warm instead of gain weight.

'Calf health is really key,” Wall said. 'Monitoring body condition on cows, making sure vaccinations are given on time, and making sure thin cows or young cows get extra supplementation.”

Wall said the cold may have slowed down a heifer's ability to reproduce, which in the long run could have some economic impact.

'If these cows are calving in late April instead of March, it can be difficult and expensive to catch those cows up,” Wall said. 'A cow costs you the same amount of money to maintain whether she has a calf or not.”

Drought-related

hay shortages

Drought also has been a factor in feeding cattle. Before heavy rainfall in the fall of 2018, southeast Iowa had two consecutive years of significant drought, slowing hay production.

Simmons said that producers will typically try to get out three hay crops. The dry summer of 2018 slowed growth of his second crop, and the fall rain made it impossible to get his third hay crop planted.

'It was so dry in the summer when I was wanting to do my second crop, that I didn't get it done until the end of August,” Simmons said. 'That third crop, it just never happened. It never quit raining. Those who did get a third crop planted, there was no sunlight to help it grow.”

The hay shortage was another factor in a difficult winter. Producers were paying a premium for hay. Bails that would be in the $50 range doubled in price, Simmons said.

'It's just hard to make money when the price of your input, and hay is one of the basic inputs for cattle production, just doubled,” Simmons said.

Wall said that healing fields from drought is important to hay production this coming summer and fall. It's important to replenish hay acres with adequate fertilizer and not turn out cows too early on grass that hasn't started growing yet.

Looking to the future

Producing beef is becoming a hand-me-down business.

It's difficult for younger farmers and beef producers to make a profit, Simmons said. Not only is the price of land out of reach, it's unaffordable for young farmers to buy private health care insurance.

'That's one of the big issues I see in the business that has changed so dramatically,” Simmons said. 'One of the biggest costs farmers have is health care costs. That's a huge item in family living. Somebody has got to work off the farm to get some health care insurance.”

Simmons said it's also difficult for producers to purchase land and have it pay for itself over time. The reason producers are staying in the industry is because of seasoned producers like Simmons who purchased land that did cash flow over the years and are passing it down from generation to generation.

'That's the only way to be in the beef cattle business,” Simmons said. 'It's hard to get started without being passed from generation to generation. It's just about impossible.”