Agricultural News
Oklahoma Ag Secretary Jim Reese Says Major Drought Impact is Lost of Mama Cow Herds Across the State
Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:29:02 CDT
The recent rainfall across a majority of Oklahoma has provided some much needed relief to farmers and ranchers. However, this does not change the fact that many producers had to sell off cattle to deal with the issues caused by this year's severe drought. Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese says the month of July was very cruel to Oklahoma, especially when it comes to spring-planted crops.
Reese says Oklahoma will likely see half of the normal hay crop this year, which will make it difficult for feeding livestock and cause a lot of importing of feed. This in turn will cause producers to spend more money than they are accustomed to says Reese. However, because many producers did sell off their cattle, there will be less cattle to feed than normally.
The most severe long-term effect of the drought, according to Reese, is the fact that a lot of Oklahoma producers have been building up their genetics and building up their herds and then they were faced with the decision of selling their cattle. Unlike most of the nation, Oklahoma has been trying to build up their herds, so this decision has caused producers to cut back on their genetics that they have been building for many years. Reese is positive on the issue of the Oklahoma herds, saying that producers will come and breed back with high quality cattle and bulls.
The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture is also taking steps to help producers that did not sell off their cattle get into contact with producers with hay in other states. The hay directory on the department's website includes directories for Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. Reese says declaring Oklahoma in a state of emergency because of the drought also allowed for some changes in the transportation of hay. The declaration allowed Gov. Fallin to relax the transportation rules of hay. After this change, Reese says they asked other states to meet the new standards as well to allow producers to travel across multiple states with the same load of hay and without special restrictions.
Click on the LISTEN bar below to listen to the rest of our conversation with Secretary Jim Reese on how the drought of 2011 has affected Oklahoma farmers and ranchers, as well as, what the Department of Agriculture is doing to help producers get through the set-backs from the drought. . You can also see Ron Hays and Secretary Reese on KWTV News 9 during the Into the Field segment on August 12 at 6:20 a.m.
To visit the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture website, click here- or to take a look at the different hay directories, click here.
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