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South Dakota drought sends cattle to auction early

Drought in western South Dakota is bringing cattle to auction sooner than they’d normally be sold.  Market owner Thor Roseth tells Brownfield there’s not enough grazing area to support cattle.

“A lot of the grass is sure drying up, some of the pastures that rely on dams are unusable right now as well due to little run-off, so there’s sure a lot of area that the carrying capacity is greatly reduced,” Roseth told Brownfield Ag News Thursday.

Roseth – in Philip, South Dakota – says cattle that would normally be kept on grass and sold at 900 pounds in September, are being pulled off dry pastures now and sold at 700 pounds.  He says drought has also resulted in small grain growers taking measures to salvage their crop for feed.

“I do see a lot of wheat fields getting cut and bailed up right now,” said Roseth.  “They’re opting to bail the wheat as opposed to taking it to maturity and combine it.”

Roseth says the one shining spot is that cattlemen are selling on a good market.

AUDIO: Thor Roseth (4 min. MP3)