Ag Alert Sept. 22, 2021

Sheep Continued from Page 13

insures a floor based on a national price, isn’tcurrentlyavailablefor lambs.Butother USDA insurance programsmay be a good investment, Feuz said. “Whenyoubuypasture, rangeandforage insurance, you shouldn’t be hoping for a wreck, but a business strategy is to buy in- surance for themonths that have paid out themost,”Feuzsaid. “It’s important thatyou use an insuranceprovider youcan trust.” The viability of any strategy is uncertain because the numbers depend greatly on how long the drought lasts, experts said. “Weknowwhen the snowstormis going to be over, but none of us knowwhen the drought will be over,”Macon said. What isnot indoubt is themagnitudeof the drought affecting ranchers of all sorts of animals throughout theWest. Last April, whenMacon dug to the root depthof his pasture, itwas as dry as it usu- ally is in June. At the time, forage losses in Northern California foothills were 60% to 70% and even greater in Yolo and Solano counties. Throughout theWest, pasture losses were triple normal seasonal rates. Conditions have only gottenhotter and drier since. In late July, an American FarmBureau Federation survey of ranchers reported that 85% of respondents were selling off portions of herds or flocks inwestern live- stock grazing regions ravaged by drought. ( Bo b J o hn s o n i s a r e p o r t e r i n Sacramento. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)

natural resources farm advisor in Placer, Nevada, Sutter and Yuba counties. “Start thinkingabout critical dates:Whendoyou have tomake decisions?” MaconandUCCESiskiyouCounty live- stock and natural resources farm advisor Grace Woodmansee are developing a drought decisionsupport tool for ranchers tohelpdevelopandevaluateaplan(ucanr. edu/sites/Livestock/files/352215.pdf ). They say ranchers shouldconsider how to get through the current drought and how to come out on the other side inposi- tion to rebuild their businesses. “We need to come out of this with re- siliency, so whenwe reach the other side, we have the animals, finances and feed to come back,”Macon said. Meanwhile, there aremanagement de- cisions thatmaymakegrazingor theentire ranch businessmore efficient. “One strategy people are adopting is multi-species grazing, because sheep and cattle have different grazing patterns,” Macon said. Another efficiency could be investing in electronic identification—or EID— to make record keeping more accurate and economical. “EIDshavecommonlybeenused incat- tle but not somuch for sheep,” saidUCCE livestock farmadvisorMorganDoran. “We know they work. It takes too much time

Sheep gather around a water tank in Solano County in this file photo. Agricultural experts are now advising ranchers on making informed decisions amid drought, extreme water shortages and vanishing pasture.

to enter information on each animal with pencil and paper and then enter that in- formation into an Excel program.” Macon invested $2,200 in an electronic reader and found that it paid for itself in labor in four years—even for his relatively small operation of 100 animals. Another technology thatmay soonhelp sheep ranchers involves using the sort of genetic information that has already helped the beef and dairy cow industries improve theperformanceof their animals. “Genetic selection has been a boon for the cattle and dairy industry,” Doran said. “Hopefully, it gets better, cheaper and faster to use genetic information to select

rams forbreedingvalues.Wecanget infor- mationonwhichanimals tokeepbasedon the performance of their ancestors.” Doran studied rams and lambs at sever- al local ranches, using DNA samples and EIDs.He foundthat inone ranch,where13 ramshadanaverageof25.3progeny, twoof themparentedhalf the young lambswhile four hadonly a handful of progeny. “Why are some (animals) low per- formers?” he asked. “You can identify the problemanddecidewhether youcan fix it or decide that the four at the bottom end may be costingmoremoney than they are worth. But youmight want to getmore in- formation before you get rid of them.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture LivestockRiskProtectioninsurance,which

2022 Hard RedWheat

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Quotations are the latest available for the week ending September 17, 2021 Year Ago Week Ago Latest Week Livestock Slaughter Steers – 5-Area Average Select & Choice, 1050–1150 lbs., $ per cwt. 101-102 123-124 123-124 Hogs – Average hog, 51-52% lean, Iowa-Minn. market, $ per cwt. 69.92 95.79 92.09 Slaughter Lambs – $ per cwt. 125–175 lbs. National weekly live sales No Quote 215-273.40 215-284.83 Field crops – basis prompt shipment Barley – U.S. No. 2, $ per cwt. Truck, Stockton-Modesto-Oakdale-Turlock No Quote No Quote No Quote Cotton – ¢ per lb., Middling 1 3/32” Fresno spot market 67.02 82.59 82.13 Corn – U.S. No. 2 yellow $ per cwt. trucked 5.11 7.52 7.67 Alfalfa Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Region 1, Northern Inter-mountain 200-260 (P/S) No Quote 225-240 (P/S) Region 2, Sacramento Valley 170-200 (P) No Quote No Quote Region 3, Northern San Joaquin Valley 250-275 (P/S) 275-280 (G/P) 260 (P) Region 4, Central San Joaquin Valley No Quote 260 (utility) 300-305 (G) Region 5, Southern California 255 (P) No Quote 225-230 (G) Region 6, Southeast Interior 85 (G) 220-245 (F/G) 195-260 (G/P) Oat Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Northern California, dairy No Quote No Quote No Quote Oats – U.S. No. 2 white, $ per cwt. Statewide, trucked price No Quote No Quote No Quote

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Dry Beans – Grower FOB prices Baby Limas, $ per cwt, (sacked) Large Limas, $ per cwt. (sacked) Blackeye, $ per cwt. (sacked)

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Rice – Milled No. 1 Head, FOB No. Calif. mills Medium grain, $ per cwt. Wheat – U.S. No. 2 or better, winter, $ per cwt. 13% protein, Los Angeles, trucked price

38-41

42-44

No Quote No Quote Provided by the California Farm Bureau as a service to Farm Bureau members. Information supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market News Branch. * ADF=Acid detergent fiber; (S) = Supreme/<27%ADF; (P) = Premium/27-29; (G) = Good/29-32; (F) = Fair/32-35. No Quote

12 Ag Alert September 22, 2021