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The sheer scale of devastation wrought by two years of rainfall compressed into two weeks in northwestern Queensland is growing by the day, as estimates of even 300,000 cattle lost may yet prove to be conservative. With potentially 1.5 million cattle in the area affected by floods and recent high winds and cold weather exposure, there is potential for losses to be even greater than the 300,000 estimate, reports Beef Central.
It will take some months for actual losses to be verified, and the final number may never truly be known as it will include countless calves yet to have been branded and added to herd records. However, it seems clearer with every passing day that the sheer scale of this disaster is unparalleled.
For steers sold in December, the average cost of gain was $80.31 per cwt., and heifers averaged $83.75. Compared to a year earlier, cost of gain increased by $3.96 per cwt. and $5.50 for steers and heifers, respectively. Some of that higher cost of gain can be attributed to increased feedstuff costs. Year-over-year, feedlots reported corn was up 12 cents per bushel (3.3%) and hay increased by $59.66 per ton (48.9%). Additionally, poor feedlot conditions (i.e., mud) increased cost of gain during the feeding period compared to 2018, according to the Daily Livestock Report.
The impact of mud on animal performance can be significant. Average daily gain was depressed, dropping year-over-year for December by 0.13 pounds (down 3.5%). The amount of feed required to achieve each pound of gain surged for animals sold in November and December. Compared to a year earlier, the that increase was 0.30 pounds (up 5.0%).
Farmers are still monitoring the impact of Hurricane Michael on their livestock. There have been reports of unexpected animal deaths in areas impacted by the storm - including southeast Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
A post on Facebook from a farm in Georgia raising questions about the deaths of animals has been shared over 4,000 times and has over 900 comments with farmers sharing their stories, reports WSFA TV, Montgomery, Ala.
Jamar Ivey, president of the Houston County Chapter of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association, says a cattleman contacted him about losing one of his cows three weeks ago. He says while cattlemen expect to lose older cows during the colder months, this death was unexpected.
“She was a rather young cow. It started with paralysis, and she kinda went down from there,” Ivey said.
You've heard that "it's not what's on the outside, it's what's on the inside that counts." But what about when the outside is ... misleading about what’s on the inside?
A Nebraska District 3 State Senator, a vegetarian no less, is concerned about consumers who may have trouble differentiating alternate protein products from real meat in the marketplace, reports The Fencepost. She is working on a bill to amend current state statute to prevent insect-based, vegetable-based, or lab-grown food from being labeled as "meat."
Five sessions of the Stockmanship & Stewardship program will be conducted in 2019 to help bring cattle producers together for further education on proper stockmanship techniques, including local stewardship that is appropriate for their regions, reports the Tri-State Livestock News.
Tour dates for the 2019 Stockmanship & Stewardship tour are:
- Tulare, Calif. March 20-21
- Ames, Iowa June 28-29
- Fort Collins, Colo. TBD August
- Manhattan, Kan. September 20-21
- West Monroe, La. October 4-5
