Extreme weather opposites challenge Saskatchewan ranchers

The summer’s drought was bad, so a little extra snow would help Garner Deobald in his farmyard.

“In our part of the world here, there is very little snow,” he said on Wednesday’s Greg Morgan Morning Show. “It looks white, but there is only an inch or two, and it really hasn’t amounted to much snow this year.”

Deobald said some snow would help moisten up the ground.

“I guess the struggle that we’ve had here is the drought conditions we are all going through here,” he said.

Deobald farms near Hodgeville, 210 kilometres southwest of Regina.

There were some benefits to the unusually warm fall. Deobald said he was able to keep his herd in the pasture well into December.

“We were supplement-feeding them out there, but again, it’s a lot better for them if they are out and about grazing,” Deobald said. “That was really a bonus, something that helped all the ranchers out here in southwest Saskatchewan.”

This summer, the provincial government provided support for cattle farms after feed crops dried up.

One farmer from the Lumsden area got creative, and collected nine tons of jack-o-lanterns after Halloween to feed his animals.

Calving normally goes from February to April for most producers, but it has already begun for Deobald because he breeds and sells yearling bulls.

The warm weather also reduced the amount of feed the cattle need. The abrupt cold snap that brought extreme cold warnings was a difficult transition for the cows.

“Nutritional requirements go up significantly through cold weather like that,” said Deobald. “Cattle (have) a little bit of a tougher time to adjust because it was just so warm and then it turned cold suddenly.

“They aren’t climatized to it just like we aren’t either. It makes it a little bit tougher on them, but they got through it.”

Dealing with the extreme cold during calving makes for non-stop work, according to Deobald.

“It is a 24/7 operation when you are calving in that kind of weather. There’s very little sleep or rest,” he said.

While using more feed can be expensive, Deobald said it’s the equipment breakdowns that happen in the frigid cold that can be the most costly.

“The increased cost comes in with water lines if they freeze, the hydraulic hoses (and) the fuel lines that jam up. There’s lots of challenges when you get those extreme cold conditions,” said Deobald.

The biggest worry for Deobald and his neighbours is the cost of production.

“Everything has just increased so much here over the last few years,” said Deobald. “Those are the challenging things, just the economics of it.

“Even with the markets being stronger, it’s just not as healthy as the profitability of it, but it’s still much better than what it had been.”