http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aLsrfapJ9QHE&refer=us
Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- About 1,000 head of cattle were found dead in a southeastern Colorado feedlot after two major storms buried the region in snow, and the death toll may grow to exceed a 1997 record, state Agriculture Commissioner Don Ament said.
About 4 feet (1.2 meters) of snow blanketed the area last week, and heavy winds created drifts as tall as 12 feet, leaving cattle searching for food and ranchers unable to find their livestock, Ament said. About 30,000 head of cattle were lost at a cost of $28 million in an October 1997 blizzard, and this storm ``could be far worse,'' he said.
``Yesterday was the first day we could dig them out and we can't account for a lot of animals,'' Ament said in an interview. ``I've had calls from farmers and ranchers saying they can't find their cattle,'' he said. The southeastern region of Colorado has about 300,000 head of cattle, he said.
The threat to livestock supplies helped send cattle prices to a four-month high. Cattle futures for February delivery rose 0.6 cent, or 0.7 percent, to 93.1 cents a pound at 2:09 p.m. on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, after earlier reaching 93.45 cents, the highest since Sept. 7.
Feeder Cattle
March futures for feeder cattle, the young animals that are fattened to slaughter weight, rose 0.625 cent, or 0.6 percent, to 99 cents a pound. Prices reached a record $1.1925 on Sept. 7 as feeder-cattle supplies from last year's calf crop dwindled.
The cattle deaths were reported at the Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding LLC feedlot in Lamar, about 225 miles southeast of Denver. The feedlot is a joint operation between Smithfield Foods Inc., the fifth-largest U.S. beef packer, and ContiGroup Cos. Troye Farmer, the feedlot's general manager, didn't return a phone message seeking comment.
Colorado Governor Bill Owens declared a statewide disaster emergency on December 28. Areas hardest hit were Prowers, Bent, Kiowa and Baca counties, according to the state Emergency Operations Center.
The state Agriculture Department has been working with Colorado and Wyoming National Guard units to conduct surveillance flights and distribute hay to the cattle they can find. A C-130 Hercules four-engine transport plane from the Wyoming National Guard, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter and four UH- 60 Blackhawk helicopters are being used, Ament said.
The process has been slow because many of the military helicopters the state used in 1997 have been deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and to other parts of the state affected by the storms, Ament said.
Not Enough Helicopters
``We haven't done enough reconnaissance, we don't have enough helicopters,'' he said. ``We had the first snow on the ground on Thursday and yesterday was the first day we got the choppers in the air.''
He said many National Guard resources, including off-road capable Humvees, were being used on life-saving operations between Colorado Springs and Fort Collins where roads were impassable. ``We've got to take care of people first,'' he said.
U.S. Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado called on President George W. Bush and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to assist state disaster relief efforts, including releasing emergency funds for livestock rescue and recovery as well as sending snow removal equipment to help reach stranded herds.
`Dire' Situation
``The situation is dire for farmers, ranchers and rural communities,'' Salazar said in a letter to the president.
There were 2.65 million head of cattle in Colorado as of Jan. 1, 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Texas had the largest cattle supply, 14.1 million head, which includes all beef and dairy animals.
Colorado is the fourth-biggest state for fed-cattle, with 1.12 million head on feed at the start of last year, according to USDA statistics supplied by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, a Washington-based trade group.
Feedlots buy year-old animals that weigh 500 to 800 pounds and fatten them on corn for about four to six months, until they weigh about 1,200 pounds and are sold to slaughterhouses.
The storms have also knocked out electricity to some ranches and feedlots, Ament said. ``If you lose power, you can't pump water and you can't feed animals,'' he said.
Higher cattle costs may hurt profit margins for U.S. meatpackers such as Tyson Foods Inc., Cargill Inc., Swift & Co., National Beef Packing Co. and Smithfield Foods. Tyson, Swift and National in September said they were cutting production to reduce losses that at times approached $50 a head.
Many pregnant cows and younger feeder animals that graze in fields are missing, Ament said. ``This is going to have an impact all the way up the line,'' he said.
Tyson Foods is the biggest U.S. beef producer, followed by Cargill, Swift, National Beef Packing and Smithfield Foods. The U.S. is the largest producer, importer and consumer of beef.
Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- About 1,000 head of cattle were found dead in a southeastern Colorado feedlot after two major storms buried the region in snow, and the death toll may grow to exceed a 1997 record, state Agriculture Commissioner Don Ament said.
About 4 feet (1.2 meters) of snow blanketed the area last week, and heavy winds created drifts as tall as 12 feet, leaving cattle searching for food and ranchers unable to find their livestock, Ament said. About 30,000 head of cattle were lost at a cost of $28 million in an October 1997 blizzard, and this storm ``could be far worse,'' he said.
``Yesterday was the first day we could dig them out and we can't account for a lot of animals,'' Ament said in an interview. ``I've had calls from farmers and ranchers saying they can't find their cattle,'' he said. The southeastern region of Colorado has about 300,000 head of cattle, he said.
The threat to livestock supplies helped send cattle prices to a four-month high. Cattle futures for February delivery rose 0.6 cent, or 0.7 percent, to 93.1 cents a pound at 2:09 p.m. on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, after earlier reaching 93.45 cents, the highest since Sept. 7.
Feeder Cattle
March futures for feeder cattle, the young animals that are fattened to slaughter weight, rose 0.625 cent, or 0.6 percent, to 99 cents a pound. Prices reached a record $1.1925 on Sept. 7 as feeder-cattle supplies from last year's calf crop dwindled.
The cattle deaths were reported at the Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding LLC feedlot in Lamar, about 225 miles southeast of Denver. The feedlot is a joint operation between Smithfield Foods Inc., the fifth-largest U.S. beef packer, and ContiGroup Cos. Troye Farmer, the feedlot's general manager, didn't return a phone message seeking comment.
Colorado Governor Bill Owens declared a statewide disaster emergency on December 28. Areas hardest hit were Prowers, Bent, Kiowa and Baca counties, according to the state Emergency Operations Center.
The state Agriculture Department has been working with Colorado and Wyoming National Guard units to conduct surveillance flights and distribute hay to the cattle they can find. A C-130 Hercules four-engine transport plane from the Wyoming National Guard, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter and four UH- 60 Blackhawk helicopters are being used, Ament said.
The process has been slow because many of the military helicopters the state used in 1997 have been deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and to other parts of the state affected by the storms, Ament said.
Not Enough Helicopters
``We haven't done enough reconnaissance, we don't have enough helicopters,'' he said. ``We had the first snow on the ground on Thursday and yesterday was the first day we got the choppers in the air.''
He said many National Guard resources, including off-road capable Humvees, were being used on life-saving operations between Colorado Springs and Fort Collins where roads were impassable. ``We've got to take care of people first,'' he said.
U.S. Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado called on President George W. Bush and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to assist state disaster relief efforts, including releasing emergency funds for livestock rescue and recovery as well as sending snow removal equipment to help reach stranded herds.
`Dire' Situation
``The situation is dire for farmers, ranchers and rural communities,'' Salazar said in a letter to the president.
There were 2.65 million head of cattle in Colorado as of Jan. 1, 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Texas had the largest cattle supply, 14.1 million head, which includes all beef and dairy animals.
Colorado is the fourth-biggest state for fed-cattle, with 1.12 million head on feed at the start of last year, according to USDA statistics supplied by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, a Washington-based trade group.
Feedlots buy year-old animals that weigh 500 to 800 pounds and fatten them on corn for about four to six months, until they weigh about 1,200 pounds and are sold to slaughterhouses.
The storms have also knocked out electricity to some ranches and feedlots, Ament said. ``If you lose power, you can't pump water and you can't feed animals,'' he said.
Higher cattle costs may hurt profit margins for U.S. meatpackers such as Tyson Foods Inc., Cargill Inc., Swift & Co., National Beef Packing Co. and Smithfield Foods. Tyson, Swift and National in September said they were cutting production to reduce losses that at times approached $50 a head.
Many pregnant cows and younger feeder animals that graze in fields are missing, Ament said. ``This is going to have an impact all the way up the line,'' he said.
Tyson Foods is the biggest U.S. beef producer, followed by Cargill, Swift, National Beef Packing and Smithfield Foods. The U.S. is the largest producer, importer and consumer of beef.
