California's Drought Could Hit Beef Prices Again As Ranchers Turn To Slaughterhouses
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY (CBS13) — California's crippling drought continues to take its toll on farmers and ranchers as herds will likely be sold off because of a lack of a snowpack.
The cost of keeping cows fed through a drought may be too costly for valley ranchers, but if more cows are sent to slaughter, it could drive up the price of beef.
Even though butcher prices are high, some ranchers may choose to slaughter rather than find hay to feed their cattle through a worsening summer drought.
At Mark Beck's ranch, the cows come home early. They normally spend most of the winter and spring in the foothills, but the grass in the mountains is disappearing.
"The cows are eating it faster than it's growing. So, we need to save feed for next year to go back to," he said.
His San Joaquin County ranch is irrigated and has pre-1914 water rights to pump from the river, and his ranch has its own wells. He says he's fortunate to grow his own hay, as ranchers south of Modesto are looking to slaughter older cattle.
"People that don't have irrigated pasture to come to, you can't buy $300 or $250 dollar hay to feed a cow all summer long," he said.
Beck says cattlemen compete for water with lucrative almond orchards and vineyards. This year, ranchers can expect less cattle feed.
"The ones who have the ground and can grow the feed are the ones who will keep the cows," he said.
Beck says beef prices will stay high this year because of a reduction in California's cows. A bright spot in the cattle industry comes from the Midwest where cows are fed with corn feed instead of hay, and corn prices are down.
"They can go out to the Midwest and be fed fairly reasonably. That helps the situation," he said.