Sask. cattle producers facing feed shortages
Saskatchewan cattle producers are now facing feed issues for their livestock due to the drought the province experienced last summer.
Harold Martens has over 1,000 livestock on his ranch northeast of Swift Current, and is now faced with feed issue brought on by the drought.
"We did sell about eight per cent of our cows," said Martens. "We were just happy that's all we had to reduce our herd by."
In August, he had calculated they would need to sell one-third of their cows due to their feed shortage. Normally he cuts 2,000 acres of upland seeded grass, this summer they only managed to get around 400.
"We knew we weren't gong to have enough feed," said Martens.
In a usual year he irrigates for about 3,000 bales of barley for silage, and this was cut by one third.
September's rain helped them grow some of what they needed, but he was still in short supply. He started to look around the province, and all over.
"Over the years we have been selling stuff privately to people in Saskatchewan and Alberta, so we kind of have an understanding about what it takes to get this done," Martens said. "We started phoning those people, and they led us from one place to the next until we got the feed."
According to the Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association, the feed issue is what many of Saskatchewan's 12,000 cow-calf producers are faced with.
"It's a huge concern to all sectors of the cattle beef production cycle," said Arnold Balicki, chair of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association. "Anytime they run out of feed or can't get feed in a timely manner, those feed lots are going to cut back on buying."
Exacerbating the issue for ranchers is the cold, which Balicki said forces cows to consume more feed.
"The demand for calves are going to back off,” said Balicki. “That will be the second really, really bad year that we have."
The feed shortage issue is worse in Alberta due to its reliance on feed being transported in by railway.
"Talking to CP officials, trains have been delayed by a week from crew shortages from COVID-19 and cold weather,” Chad MacPherson, general manager of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association, said. “They are putting extra resources to the issue and hope to have the backlog resolved within a week."
Balicki said introducing the vaccine mandate for truckers at this time will only add to the troubles producers are facing.
"I don't know where this is coming from but it just doesn't make sense," he added.
With calving season nearing, Balicki hopes the feed issues don’t persist.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Calgary police shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers dealt with a distraught individual. The incident lasted almost 20 hours.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.