At the 118th American Farmers and Ranchers state convention in Norman, Oklahoma, Farm Director, KC Sheperd had the chance to visit with the National Farmers Union Vice President, Jeff Kippley about the recent Young Producers Development meeting and challenges faced by cattle producers.
Kippley first talked about the Young Producers Development meeting that took place recently which consisted of producers from North Dakota, South Dakota and Oklahoma. The meeting focused on education, Kippley said, and networking with farmers from different states.
“We wanted to give the producers something they could take back to their farms and operations and grow themselves,” Kippley said.
South Dakota, North Dakota and Oklahoma are similar, Kippley said, as all three states have large cattle numbers.
“What we are fighting with the packers is real and it is through all three states,” Kippley said. “So, it was really good just to kind of converse and talk about those type of things.”
The meeting also covered discussion of different opportunities such as how to forward contract cattle.
“I think everybody wants to see something out with these big packers, but then also this program will continue just because it was such a great learning experience for all three states,” Kippley said. “I think next year Oklahoma will actually host it, so North Dakota and South Dakota will come down here and get together and kind of learn from Oklahoma.”
Regarding inflation and low cattle numbers, Kippley said, these are hard times for producers because of losses, not to mention the drought.
“When you hit that drought situation, you have got to go buy expensive hay,” Kippley said. “Your feed cost goes up extremely fast.”
Interest going up because of inflation, Kippley said, has been another burden on the nation’s producers.
“What I am seeing in my neck of the woods is we have got a lot of guys getting out of cattle,” Kippley said. “Not necessarily by choice, but the dollars and cents just weren’t there, especially during the drought time, and I don’t know they are going to get back in.”
