'It's pretty grim': Sask. ranchers selling off cattle again this year due to drought

Coming into year three of extremely dry weather, cattle producers are again being forced to sell some of their herd much earlier than they would normally. 

One of the biggest problems is the lack of grass for the cows. Rancher Lee Norheim said his cattle would normally be grazing on pasture right now.

"The grass will just be the first impact. The hay crops are not growing. The grain crops are considerably behind," he said.  

"Those hay and grain crops will provide the feed we need for the winter months. At this point, we're struggling just to get through the summer months."

Adrienne Ivey, who farms near Ituna, said this is the driest she has seen it in near 20 years of cattle farming, something Norheim echoed.

"Not only has it been really dry, couple that with the really cold weather ... even if we had more moisture, we still would have been in a really difficult feed situation."

Ivey said she has sold off all of her yearlings she had planned to graze over the summer. 

"Next step would be cutting down on our cow calf pairs, but [we're] definitely just trying to think outside of the box," she said.

Ivey said that not only are these types of situations stressful for the financial well-being of her family, she also has to worry about the well-being of the animals in her care.

"It's pretty grim," said Roy Rutledge, who raises beef south of Avonlea. Rutledge is also the general manager of the Assiniboia Livestock Auction and the Weyburn Livestock Exchange. He said the auctions are seeing big sales of cull cows but the prices are stable.

"It's hamburger season so it's the right time of year for it. The Calgary Stampede uses up about four million pounds of ground beef so those kinds of things really help."

Norheim said that producers always have plans for a lack of crop growth. He says he is considering selling some of his herd.

"What I think a lot of producers have not accounted for is having zero crop, and as much as I hate to say it, that is a possibility," he said. 

"Nobody wants to sell their breeding inventory, nobody wants to be forced into a situation where they have to sell cattle, but it's a reality."