Years of drought have stressed the livestock industry, forcing producers to cull cattle as forage and water supplies become scarce, prompting changes in the industry. The cattle herd dipped to 89.3 million on Jan. 1, 2013, a low not seen since 1952. With fewer cattle, the nation has a greater livestock capacity than needed, leading businesses like Cargill to downsize.
Cargill officials announced that the cattle feed yard in Lockney, Texas, would close during the summer of 2014, due to the small cattle population in the region, years of drought and smaller grain harvests in the area for feed. The director of communications for Cargill stated that the regional drought that began in 2011 increased the cost of feeding cattle from $2 per day per animal to $8 per day. The Lockney feed yard was established in 1985, employs 45 people and has a capacity of 6,200 cattle.
Earlier this year, Cargill idled a meat processing plant, not 20 miles down the road from Lockney in nearby Plainview, Texas, on Feb. 1, 2013, for similar reasons. About 2,000 jobs were lost in a town of roughly 22,000 people. The high cost of corn resulted in another business casualty when an ethanol plant in Plainview, Texas, belonging to White Energy stopped production on Jan. 7, due to the high cost of grains.
Water Supply
Persistent drought in the western U.S. has
strained water supplies, as demand has exceeded supply, and is
approaching a critical situation without good snowfall this winter.
The Colorado River Basin needs above-normal snowfall to prevent water shortages as the levels of lakes Powell and Mead continue to drop. The 14-year drought the region has endured has drained Lake Mead by a depth of 100 vertical feet and may cause the lake to hit a record low by November 2014.
California
California farmers were warned by state and federal water providers to expect no water in the spring of 2014 and possibly no water for the entire growing season. This is not a workable solution for farmers with permanent crops, such as vineyards, orchards and groves. Without water, the crops will die, at an enormous cost to farmers....
