Agricultural News
Peel Foresees Another Great Year for Herd Rebuilding
Tue, 26 May 2015 19:59:46 CDT
The recent rains has reduced the effects of drought and helped the grassland recover across much of Oklahoma and Texas. That bodes well for cattle producers looking to increase their herd numbers. Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel said this rain is exactly what cattle producers needed.
"I think it's going to be a pretty significant effect, as we go forward," Peel said. "The issue for the last several years in the beef industry has been sort of what we had to do, as opposed to what we wanted to do."
In the last month, the southern plains areas that had the worst drought in that region have received significant amounts of rain. That's going to allow for herd expansion. Some of these areas have been in drought for so long and will need additional time to recover. Peel thinks this is going to stimulate expansion for the foreseeable future.
"I think we are going to see fairly aggressive expansion pace here in 2015 as we go forward," Peel said.
Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays featured Peel on the Beef Buzz feature. Click or tap on the LISTEN BAR below to listen to today's Beef Buzz.
As producers began to expand their cattle herd a year ago, there was a big drop in cow culling. Peel said last year cow culling was down nearly 18 percent and is down about 17 percent since the start this year.
"It was hard to imagine at the beginning of the year, we could see another year of that kind of decrease year over year, so far we're doing it," Peel said.
Peel looks for cow culling to moderate some in the future, as he doesn't think the industry has the ability to maintain those levels. With the improving conditions, he said that's going to keep cow slaughter at a minimal level and is going to stimulate additional heifer retention. That's going to encourage producers to hold back heifer calves for next year.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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