March flooding in Nebraska should help support Canadian cattle prices for the next year.
Flooding caused by early March rains, snow and cyclone winds came when 70 per cent of calving was complete. Up to 10 per cent of the calf crop was lost.
An estimated one million head of cattle were lost to flooding and the blizzard storm — amounting to 60 per cent of the cow herd.
U.S. cattle numbers were just starting last year to recover from 1950s lows after a decade of drought in major cattle producing states. The usual price cycle’s down trend began last fall with lower prices.
Even though the Nebraska cow/calf herd is less than two per cent of the national herd, the herd re-building needed in Nebraska will affect the national price as females are withheld from the market.
Ironically, February flooding in Australia killed 500,000 cattle that had survived years of drought.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net.
