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NFU president concerned drought will compromise future of some cattle producers

The leader of the National Farmers Union is concerned the drought might be too much for some cattle producers to overcome. 

NFU president Rob Larew said during a Farmfest Forum on ag policy Tuesday, cattle producers have been dealing with an unparalleled level of concentration.

“Add on top of that unfair markets, a drought, and you have these stories coming out right now where you have young producers who don’t have the wherewithal to kind of weather (these conditions) for a huge period of time, having to sell off their foundation animals.”

He suggests those producers are giving up the future, which Larew says can’t happen.

“So when we talk about a response on drought, we can’t just talk about right now. We have to come up with solutions to disaster, whether it’s drought or other weather extremes, that is going to give farmers of all kinds some certainty going forward.”

He says livestock producers need more tools to manage risk.