Dealing with drought all over again

And a quick look at the drought monitor map shows that the worst of the drought is in parts of the Southern Plains that have already seen its share of wildfires.
Friends from the Texas Panhandle, my long-time former home, say it’s been four months since they’ve seen any measurable moisture.
According to the Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC), it its most recent Livestock Monitor, “In recent months, the number of cattle placed into U.S. feedlots has been bolstered by the large 2017 calf crop, poor small grains grazing conditions (wheat) in the Southern Plains and rather good demand for animals put on feed.
Cattle on feed placements in 2017 ran well ahead of 2016 and the five-year average all year.
According to Jim Robb, director of the Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC), the pull-through last year occurred at the wholesale and live cattle level, creating a market that encouraged higher placements and marketings.
In its recent Livestock Monitor, LMIC analysts say the spike in placements is a double-edged sword.
“However, the placement pattern since last fall has put more slaughter cattle in the marketing window of late May through mid August than a year ago.
Note that many of those animals are heifers.
Those prices suggest dampened demand for feeder cattle late this spring on into the summer months.” LISTEN: Drought conditions on wheat pastures push feeder cattle to town So far this year, feeder cattle and calf prices have remained strong, as have fed cattle prices.
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