[MoonRiver]

I guess this is why steak is relatively inexpensive right now. It also means it will be much more expensive in the future.

 

[Forcast]

Lots of dairy cows sent to market lots. Our auction house was mostly dairy cows

 

[Evons hubby]

With luck the price of ground beef may come down a little.

 

[Pony]

This is so sad. My heart goes out to the ranchers. They are seeing devastating loss of stock, and they are, essentially, forced to sell for pennies on the dollar.

And the animals... the drought is making them miserable

Heck, the drought here actually makes me feel sorry for the deer who come to destroy my garden. There is a lot of pressure on the critters...

 

[wr]

With luck the price of ground beef may come down a little.

It my in the immediate future but the shortage later on will drive prices higher.

 

[HDRider]

You can buy hamburger for $3 a pound.

 

[muleskinner2]

The price a rancher gets for his cattle at auction, has very little to do with the cost of meat in the supper market. The middle men make three or four times what the rancher does.

 

[barnbilder]

May not have paid attention in geography class, but isn't drought fairly common in Texas?

 

[ryanthomas]

May not have paid attention in geography class, but isn't drought fairly common in Texas?

Yes, but the severity and extent vary. This one is particularly widespread and they're saying it could beat the worst one on record...I don't know if that's real or media hype, but it's a bad one either way.

The really unpleasant part comes when the drought ends. It's usually not gradual, but floods.

 

[barnbilder]

It's almost as if it would be better management to let large herds of migratory bovines travel through the area and eat the grass and then move on when they ran out, and leave cow farming to folks that live in places where it rains pretty often. If you are only scheduled for rain every month or so, and it's a jillion degrees normally, you don't have to miss but a couple rains and it gets dry.

 

[barnbilder]

I raised cattle for forty years. Raising cattle is pretty dumb to start with, seems like it is only dumber to do it in a place that is prone to intense heat and long periods without rain. Then rush everything off to market at the exact same time that everybody else runs out of grass and has to rush things off to market, because weather trends usually happen over a broad area. That way you all sell cheap.

 

[Evons hubby]

It's almost as if it would be better management to let large herds of migratory bovines travel through the area and eat the grass and then move on when they ran out, and leave cow farming to folks that live in places where it rains pretty often. If you are only scheduled for rain every month or so, and it's a jillion degrees normally, you don't have to miss but a couple rains and it gets dry.

That’s pretty much how it’s done today, just smaller herds wandering around on vast amounts of open range land.

 

[oldasrocks]

I remember an old story in the sand hills of Nebraska. Cows run themselves to death trying to find enough grass to eat.

 

[MoonRiver]

I raised cattle for forty years. Raising cattle is pretty dumb to start with, seems like it is only dumber to do it in a place that is prone to intense heat and long periods without rain. Then rush everything off to market at the exact same time that everybody else runs out of grass and has to rush things off to market, because weather trends usually happen over a broad area. That way you all sell cheap.

What else can they do with the land?

 

[Evons hubby]

What else can they do with the land?

Not much. It’s either sell or buy hay. I was lucky enough to have enough rain to support my pastures and raise enough hay for my small herd.

 

[barnbilder]

That’s pretty much how it’s done today, just smaller herds wandering around on vast amounts of open range land.

But they can't go to Kansas to get grass.

 

[barnbilder]

What else can they do with the land?

Raise something with a quicker turn around than cows, that comes into production quicker and hits market weight sooner. Of course people want their nasty beef burger dripping in disgusting yellow fat.

 

[Evons hubby]

Raise something with a quicker turn around than cows, that comes into production quicker and hits market weight sooner.

Kangaroo?

 

[barnbilder]

Kangaroo?

Goat. Sheep.

 

[Evons hubby]

Goat. Sheep.

True, goats, sheep, and even rattlesnakes and buzzards are edible… but the average American consumer prefers beef and chicken.