Winter storms take heavy toll on cattle, sheep producers

BUFFALO — Bitterly cold temperatures, heavy snowfall and strong winds are exacting a heavy price from Wyoming's agricultural producers this winter.
 
Days before the latest snowstorm pummeled the state, Gov. Mark Gordon announced that his office was preparing to request a disaster designation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
 
“The 2022-23 winter has been particularly hard for Wyoming's sheep and cattle producers, due to a combination of factors," Gordon's office wrote in a press release. “The winter started exceptionally early and has resulted in significant snow levels and considerable drifting. Ongoing windy conditions and drifting snow is hampering efforts to reach livestock. Mortality has been high thus far and is expected to increase well into the spring as a result of this harsh winter." 
 
And while Gordon's request specifically referenced animal mortality, the disaster declaration would also trigger the availability of emergency, low-interest loans to help with some of the costs of additional feed and costs associated with breaking through the snow to get to livestock. 
 
Along with this, the USDA Farm Service Agency has other programs that can help producers as well.
 
Reports of animal losses are starting to come in, according to Annie Bryce, FSA program specialist, but it is too soon to know the extent of the losses.
 
Whit Stewart, UW Extension sheep specialist, said nearly all livestock producers are likely to be hit by costs of increased feeding. Whit said the deep snow this winter has meant that sheep are not able to forage much, which means more winter feeding — if producers can even get to their livestock.
 
“Feeding them hay or supplemental feed is three times the cost of a grazing diet,” Stewart said. “Most producers budget for some winter feeding, but not nearly as much as we've had." 
 
For cattle ranchers the story is the same.
 
“The biggest problem we face is when it gets just warm enough in the afternoon to settle the snow and make ice,” said Leif Hanson, Wyoming Stock Growers Association Region III vice president. “There is grass underneath the hard snow and ice, but the cattle aren't able to get to it. We've been forced to feed more hay than we intended because of that.”
 
For producers who are calving or close to calving, the nutritional needs of their herds are up anyway, and those nutritional demands are made even greater by the cold weather.
 
“It just makes everything difficult.” Hanson said. "You've got to stay on top of things. You have to get (the calves) warm as soon as they're born, or make sure they are in when they do calve. Their body requirements are just that much more when it's cold." 
 
Stewart said that most sheep flocks are not yet in the final 40 days of gestation when a ewe's nutritional needs really increase.
 
Over the long term, Stewart said, shearing is a good time to assess ewes' body composition and health. The concern, he said, is ensuring that ewes are healthy enough to produce high-quality colostrum.
 
“There are ways of dealing with what Mother Nature has dealt us,” Stewart said. “If producers are concerned about body condition, there is still time to feed supplemental protein and energy.”
 
Both Stewart and Hanson said it is impossible to measure the physical and emotional toll the extreme weather is taking on producers.
 
“Obviously, the cold and snow makes even simple things more difficult,” Hanson said. “Getting vehicles started is hard when it's cold, and just getting out to the cattle can be a challenge when it is drifted. … I just know some people are having a really tough winter and I certainly sympathize with them.
 
There are some sheep people I know, and they haven't even been able to get to their sheep, so definitely a tough winter.”
 
That kind of daily grind can become mentally exhausting.
 
“Sometimes the public doesn't think about the emotional toll of fighting the weather,” Stewart said. “There is the ripple effect of the producer being stretched thin, that stress of potentially losing ewes, the knowledge that their costs are going to be higher than they normally would be when lamb markets are down. I think checking in on each other is important — the morale that needs to be maintained.”
 
Bryce with the FSA said producers who have had losses or who may qualify for other programs should be in touch with their agent.
 
This story was published on Mar. 2, 2023