Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 4/17/17



USDA’s recently released 2017 crop planting intentions have implications for livestock producers, according to Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist Derrell Peel.

Early planting intentions for corn were down 4.3 percent from last year at 90.0 million acres.  Soybean planting intentions were up 7.3 percent at 89.5 million acres.

“From a feed perspective, decreased corn (and grain sorghum) acreage raises the chances for a slightly higher 2017 crop year corn price and, perhaps more importantly, increases the risk of higher feed grain prices should adverse weather conditions develop during the 2017 growing season,” Peel wrote in a recent report in the Cow/Calf Corner newsletter.

He noted, however, that higher than expected grain stocks remain from the record 2016 corn crop, which should keep feed grain prices favorable for the remainder of the 2016 crop year.

Less pasture land
Another impact for livestock producers has been a decrease in pasture acreage. According to the most recent National Resource Inventory, from 2007 to 2012 pasture acreage in the eastern half of the country, including the major cropping areas of the Midwest, decreased by 2.2 million acres. 

“Cow-calf producers in the Midwest report that pasture and hay are in limited supply and expensive, making it difficult to compete with cow–calf production in other regions,” Peel wrote.

He raised the question of whether lower crop prices would result in pasture reestablishment in the Midwest and other major cropping regions. In the current crop intentions, projected total harvested hay acreage is down slightly, year over year, for the United States but hay acreage is projected to be up year over year in Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska.

Peel said he doubted perennial pastures are being reestablished in major crop areas, noting reseeding pastures would require fences, water development for grazing and an expectation of several years of beneficial use for grazing.

“Until or unless crop prices remain depressed for an extended period of time, there will likely continue to be less hay and pasture forage resources available in major crop regions compared to earlier periods,” Peel concluded.

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