Drought conditions force B.C. cattle ranchers to consider selling their herds

B.C. cattle ranchers are in a pinch as severe drought conditions are forcing them to consider selling their herds.

John Solecki, the Skeena region director of the B.C. Cattlemen's Association, says decreasing pastures and high hay prices are forcing ranchers to make dire decisions. 

"There's no grass growing very well and there's no hay to speak of," said Solecki. 

"I would say a good percentage of [cattle ranchers in B.C.] are going to just have to liquidate their herds this year, meaning sell them all out."

Solecki says while there is no simple solution to get around the issue, he hopes a solution can be found to help cattle ranchers keep parts of their herds to get through the year with support from the B.C. Cattlemen's Association and the Ministry of Agriculture. 

"Hopefully this is not the beginning of a long-term trend. If this is just a one-off year, we can continue," he said. 

According to a report from the River Forecast Centre, four out of 34 water basins in B.C are now at Drought Level 5 and 18 are at Level 4. The provincial scale goes from zero to five.

'Just like dust'

When Brad Chappell, a cattle farmer in the Comox Valley region, first developed his ranch, he built three large ponds on his property to work around potential droughts in the future.

Despite his early planning, Chappell says the ponds are nearly depleted this year. 

"We haven't really had a measurable rain right here at our place since the sixth of May … Almost every day we've seen temperatures of 27 to 32 C," he said, adding production of legumes and hay are at 25 per cent of normal yields. 

"I just finished a field that had 1,011 big bales last year and only 140 [bales] this year."

Typically cattle ranchers let cows graze in pastures over the spring and summer, keeping hay and feed for the winter. But Solecki says ranchers across the province are starting to dip into their winter resources earlier than usual this year. 

"There's just no regrowth whatsoever [in already grazed pastures] … the dirt out there is just like dust," he said.

Chappell says in a normal year, he'll bring grazing cows back at the end of September, but this year he plans to bring them back near the end of July. He says soon they'll have to dip into the winter feed or start selling off the cows.

"There's an old saying, match the cows to your feedstock … We love our cows and we don't want to [sell] them, but it's business," he said. 

Costly decisions

Chappell and his wife run a purebred operation, meaning they focus on breeding bulls and heifers, or young female cows, for other ranchers. 

According to Chappell, breeding is a timely and investment-heavy process. He says he'll lose profits by culling his cows as commercial livestock at a lower rate. 

Instead, Chappell plans to keep his herd of 150 cows and borrow money to buy feed.

"[Right now] I have enough feed for 130 days, about half of what we need [this winter] … I'll probably borrow about $20,000 per month to buy feed … So about $65,000 to $100,000 total," he said, adding they hope keeping their herd will profit in the years to come. 

Solecki isn't sure he'll cull his cows this year, but has decided not to purchase hay at "uneconomic prices" — going up to $800 per ton in some parts of B.C. 

"There's no way you can do cattle production with those numbers … we're all just as anxious as anyone," said Solecki, adding the B.C. Cattlemen's Association is trying to find solutions to help ranchers. 

"We'd like to try and allow people … to find a way to be able to hold on to their base cow herds at least and get through this year." 

In a release on July 14, the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Food reminded ranchers of support available through AgriRecovery, a federal-provincial program developed after the climate events of 2021 to help adversely affected farms and ranches resume production.

In regards to the feed shortage felt by ranchers, the ministry says they are working with B.C. Dairy and the B.C. Cattleman's Association to identify additional sources of feed to be distributed to producers. 

"Supporting our agriculture producers is top of mind for me and I have been in touch and continue to speak with farmers and ranchers about the challenges they are facing," said Minister Pam Alexis.

"To our farmers and ranchers, I want you to know that we are here for you."