Winter Cannot Pass Fast Enough For Oklahoma Cattle Producers

Courtesy of Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association

Unusually cold and wet weather has been widespread and prolonged this year in Oklahoma, giving cattle producers a number of management challenges and causing a variety of market effects.

Cold, sloppy feedlot conditions have delayed animal finishing and reduced carcass weights. It is readily evident that some of the lost performance will never be recovered and animals will require extra days on feed to finish at acceptable grades.

"This has helped push up fed cattle prices to $90 per hundredweight recently as packers scrambled to find sufficient quantities of finished cattle," said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension livestock marketing specialist.

Unfortunately, Peel cautions most of the higher fed prices will only partially offset the increased feedlot cost of production due to reduced performance, lower feed efficiency and increased sickness and death loss.

"Reduced total beef production, mostly due to lighter carcass weights, has helped push boxed beef prices higher but the effects of bad weather on demand will show up in the coming days and weeks," he said. 

Peel added that approximately a third of the U.S. population was severely affected by snow and cold in recent days and weeks, resulting in reduced beef sales in terms of restaurant sales, which are always hit to some degree when travel is curtailed.

Most Oklahoma cow-calf producers have had a long winter of fighting mud to busting ice and hauling hay.

"Cows have been wet and cold for weeks and have lost body condition despite increased hay feeding," Peel said. "Many herds are just beginning to calve and cows will likely lose more body condition rapidly once they begin lactation. Some producers are short of hay and face potentially another six weeks to eight weeks of feeding before any spring forage will be available."

Producers needing more and better quality feed to get through the winter should evaluate all possible feed sources to design the most economical feeding programs to prevent excessive loss of cow body condition. Peel cautions that hay may not necessarily be the best answer in certain cases.

Furthermore, the rigors of the winter may well result in poor or delayed conception rates for spring-calving cows.

"The potential silver lining in this winter weather is that we have excellent moisture conditions to grow forage once spring arrives," Peel said. "Cows that finish the winter in poorer-than-usual body condition may recover quickly with abundant high-quality spring forage."

On the flip side, this may result in cows breeding somewhat later than normal. Producers may want to consider possible adjustments in the breeding season.

Stocker cattle have also been affected by the harsh winter, with the relative severity depending mostly on an operation's particular location.

"In some regions, stocker cattle have been subject to the same wet, sloppy conditions with stalled-out wheat pasture and have not gained well," Peel said. "Many were placed on pasture later than usual and so weigh less than expected at this time. Farther west in Oklahoma, it has been cold but drier and cattle have gained well, although with significantly increased hay feeding in most cases."

The end of February marks the time when wheat pasture producers must begin monitoring wheat for signs of first hollow stem and the termination of winter grazing.

"Stocker cattle should begin moving off wheat pasture soon, with possibly most moving by the first week of March," Peel said. "Cattle grazing out wheat should have excellent forage conditions as soon the weather warms a bit and the wheat begins growing rapidly."

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