Video: The Long Term Effects Of The Drought For Farmers

STARKVILLE,Miss. (WCBI)—Dry soil, shrinking lakes and hungry cattle are all things beef cattle farmers across North East Mississippi have been faced with since our area slipped into exceptional drought status in early fall.

” The year 2016 has been a disasters year for us,”said Noxubee County Cattle Farmer Julius Beck.  Since early fall his hay supply has taken a beating.

“I make my own hay but in 2016 we had a drought and I had to buy hay, for the first time in years.

Rocky Lemus, with the MSU Extension Service, says drought conditions present all farmers with challenges but beef cattle farmers are extremely hard hit .

“We have had a drought situation since late July to almost late November. Usually that time span is very important for cattle producers in Mississippi from the point of view of hay production. With that type of drought situation it actually set back the producer planting and when the forage will be prepared for the cattle to graze as well,”said Lemus.

Droughts of that magnitude can cause farmers, like Beck to reach out of his area to make sure his cattle’s fed and Lemus says buying hay this time of year… is going to cost you.

“Some of them have to start feeding hay much earlier which means probably the amount of hay they have for the winter season was reduced significantly, which means in the long term their going to have to look at importing hay from other counties in the state or sometimes from out of state to maintain the amount of hay supply that they need. In that case it means the cost is going to go higher. They are going to have to look at transportation costs also the quality of the hay they are feeding,”said Lemus.

Now, there are other alternatives to hay but beef cattle farmer Dennis Johnson says, it’s not the same.

“It ain’t nothing like hay. You can’t buy enough feed. Hay is a filler that keeps you from having to buy. You lose your profit when you buy a lot of feed, the profit is gone.  So the hay kind of saves you on your profit. With feed, a sack of feed cost you 7 dollars and your probably going through 10 sack of feed or more that can add up pretty good,” said Johnson.

The rain fall the last few weeks has helped but Lemus says it’s going to take more than that to replenish the hay supply.

The United States Department of Agriculture is stepping up to help cattle farmers impacted by the drought.

Categories: Local News

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