11-21 FB Doug on Texas

 An interesting look at the crisis in Texas. There’s a lot more than a shortage of feed involved.

Douglas Jones is the Executive Director of Growers for Biotechnology and is also a farmer. We have talked a number of times about all kinds of issues and in my most recent conversation we discussed the crisis in Texas regarding drought, lack of feed and thinning out if not completely abandoning herds of cattle. “Have you heard about this whole thing going on down in Texas? Does that make the hay market better here? It strengthens the market but there is a strong demand for hay here in Idaho. It is because of our huge dairy cattle industry. They are desperate. My wife has family who has ranches in central Texas. They are in really tough shape. Yes I’ve heard have you heard that they have given up feeder cattle, they are selling them off, they are not going to continue with their herds. Some of the guys who can actually afford it has shipped their breeding stock up north to Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota to keep them alive. This is because they have years invested in the genetics of those breeding animals that they don’t want to lose.”