feed shortage?

[max]

with the sept rains and the regrowth of crops are we really going to be in a severe shortage of feed that everyone initially thought? If there is more out there then earlier believed then just how much will feed prices come down, or will they just stabilize where they are at?

[kens]

Here in east-central Alberta we have had very little rain in Sept. the most an inch coming on Sept. 30. Any regrowth that we might have had was immeadiately eaten by the grasshoppers. Our fall rye seeded this spring was eaten off twice. Short feed supplies here have been topped up with purchased hay and pelleted feed. Some are still waiting for straw to come because harvest has been so slow.

[Bruce14]

In north-central Sask. we have had a tremendous turn around since July. We weaned mid July and were about a week away from selling some cows.

Now the challenge is getting the feed made. Still no surface water but good second growth in barley and canola. A lot of high moisture bales being wrapped up however straw is hard to find. We are baling canola greenfeed/straw and will be increasing our swath grazing acres.

The frustrating thing is that crop insurance wrote crop off some time ago with the intent that it was to be put up for livestock feed. Instead the plough jockeys left it to see if the second growth would amount to grain. In some cases it would have taken no frost until November but they were sure they would get the grain plus sell the straw.

They all hit the panic button last week when we recieved three nights down to -7. Lots of feed available now however nitrates are a concern and a lot smaller window to get it made now rather than a month ago. Crop insurance won't fully pay them out until something is done with the crop.
Greed has a way of being a cruel mistress.

If we get weather put the feed up it will definitley put a cap on local pricing as it is not practical to haul high moisture feed any distance and will have to be absorbed locally.

Yes I do know how fortunate we are.

[max]

Bruce14 does this mean that there will be cows moving into your area to be fed on a custom basis? If so have you heard what they will be charged?

[Bruce14]

Max, I haven't heard of anyone looking for custom cows to winter as of yet. Like I said it was such a drastic turnaround and we still need a couple of weeks of good weather to get the rest of the feed made.

Most people are just happy to be able to hang on to the cows they have and the smart ones are putting up extra feed for next year.

[les]

Here in central Alberta there is a fair amount of second growth being put up for feed(if the weather permits)
I dont hear of anyone wanting to sell any of it tho as they will be using it themselves, and saving it for next year.There is still alot of cow herds looking for feed tho.Driving around the country the second growth looks to be patchy,some areas with good growth others with very little.

[les]

Hay here is still selling between 6 to 8 cents a lb.

[cakadu]

I was at a meeting about 10 days ago and heard a very interesting comment. One fellow said that if they would just quit talking about the drought and the feed shortages, the price just might come down.

I wonder how much truth there would be to that?

I agree though that now the window to get things rolled up is much smaller than before. In the past couple of weeks, in west central Alberta, we've had enough moisture to prevent being able to do anything. Our neighbor has had his 2nd cut laying down for 2 weeks now; same with a great looking green feed crop we saw - cut 2 weeks ago, so now it's a matter of getting enough good weather to get it rolled. We woke up to about 1/2 inch of snow or so this morning!