This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Waiting for Rain


Above: Cows cool off in a muddy pond during one of Oklahoma’s scorching-hot summer days. Below: Some Oklahoma cattle producers have already started feeding hay due to the lack of grass in their pastures. Most ranch- ers don’t begin feeding bales until October or November but this year’s circumstances call for desperate mea- sures. Photos by Gail Banzet.


By Gail Banzet D


ead grass crunches underneath the ranch- er’s boots as he walks out into one of his parched pastures and surveys the scene. A herd of black cows stands in the distance under a line of shade trees, trying to escape the midday sun and heat. One look at the pas- ture’s pond and the rancher knows he has only a few days left to make some decisions before it’s completely dry. This year’s rural landscape is an all-too-familiar sight from 2011 and as water and hay supplies dwindle, cattle produc- ers are making emergency plans to survive the second year of extreme drought.


“Optimistically, we’re the same or a little worse than last year,” said Tim Courtney of Courtney Farms. He and his family run commercial cattle near Chouteau. With no surplus of hay and skyrocketing feed prices, Courtney is still confi dent he and his cattle can outlast the dry weather. “My cows are as fat as I like to see them right now,” he said. “You just try to hang on and possibly feed grain a little bit. We farm some so we’ll bale stocks for roughage if we need to.”


Courtney is in a lot better shape than some pro- ducers who don’t have the option to bale additional fields or purchase extra feed. Market analysts say most of this year’s corn crop will succumb to the drought, stressing the nation’s corn supply and driv- ing up grain prices to unprecedented numbers. “Feed has gone up $50 to $100 a ton, depending on what you’re buying,” Courtney said. “Everybody’s looking to blame somebody but there’s no blame— it’s just the weather.” Fellow northeast Oklahoma rancher Charlie Dors- ey of Dorsey Ranch in Pryor said he also has been


28 OKLAHOMA LIVING


Oklahoma’s cattle producers launch into survival mode as extreme weather grips the sooner state


closely monitoring his herd situation. He manages an operation of 1,000 cows and although he hasn’t had to liquidate any of them, he did sell off his an- nual crop of calves earlier than normal this year. As of last month he still hoped to hold off feeding his cattle hay until December—an ambitious plan con- sidering such a weak hay crop.


“We counted bales of hay and we’re about 600 short,” Dorsey, a member of Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, said. “We need to pray for rain or at least pray rains come early enough before frost— that way we can get another cutting of hay.” One advantage Dorsey has over other ranchers try- ing to buy expensive feed or hay is a special soybean byproduct he uses in his feed ration. So far, it has proved an effective, yet cheaper way to keep his cows full.


“That’s one reason we haven’t had to sell any cows—we feed that soybean byproduct year round,” he said. “It’s got fi ber in it and takes the place of some of our hay fi ller.”


While Dorsey experiments with different feed


strategies for his herd, Osage County ranchers Sunny Fogarty and her husband, Dan, are taking a simple, pencil-to-paper approach. “You have to be budget-friendly in this indus- try, especially right now with the drought and high grain prices,” she said. “We’re looking at $10 corn prices and even the range cubes we buy to winter our yearlings are signifi cantly higher than what they’ve been the past couple of years.” The Fogartys, members of Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative, run 400 cow/calf pairs and usually purchase around 2,000 stocker calves for the winter. Typically, the stockers are sold in July. Because of this year’s drought the Forgartys sold the calves a little early—at the same time as many other producers—and that contributed to declin- ing market prices.


“We were able to sustain our cow herd but did sell our yearlings off a couple of weeks early,” Sunny For- garty said. “I didn’t think the drought could get any worse than last year and it already is. Our ponds are almost completely dried up and we just don’t have the grass available.”


As not only a rancher but also a territory sales rep- resentative for Merck, Fogarty said she can relate to a lot of her customers—many of whom have drastically cut back their herds. At any rate, the Fogartys plan to push through the drought and carry on even if that means paying thousands of dollars to bring a reliable water source to their cattle.


“We won’t be able to buy the amount of stockers we usually take in,” Fogarty said. “We might be reduced to digging pipeline and hooking up to rural water if we have to in order to keep purchasing calves.” Drastic times call for drastic measures and Tulsa Stockyards owner/manager Joe Don Eaves witnesses the desperation of local cattle producers like Fogarty


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146