Cattle call

As pastures grow shorter and the rainfall deficit grows larger, area farmers are flocking to livestock auctions in droves to sell their cattle.

Travis Newell was surprised Monday at the line of cattle trucks waiting to unload at Tennessee Valley Livestock Auction in Florence. "I was expecting it to be busy, but not like this."

Newell, of Red Bay, along with dozens of other farmers in northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee, were selling cattle Monday because the drought has parched their pastures.

The line of trucks waiting to unload cattle at Tennessee Valley Livestock stretched almost a quarter-mile for much of the morning.

Tennessee Valley Livestock Auction operator Harry Floyd said cattle are selling at more than twice the normal June rate. "We're running about 1,500 head a week. About 600 head is normal for this time of year."

Business is also brisk at North Alabama Livestock Auction in Russellville.

Manager Jim Martin said about 1,600 cattle are being sold, which is double the normal pace for June.

"Farmers are running out of grass and water. They don't have much hay so their only option is to sell some of their herd. Some of them are selling everything they have," Martin said.

Rainfall in the Shoals is almost 18 inches below normal.

Showers and thunderstorms are expected today, but the rain will hardly put a dent in the drought, according to forecasters.

"We're looking at maybe at one quarter to three quarters of an inch," said Dave Nadler, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Huntsville. "Any rain we receive will help the crops, pastures and lawns in the short term, but it's not going to change the drought status."

Portions of Colbert, Franklin and Lauderdale counties and all of Lawrence are in and exceptional drought, the most severe rating assigned by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

"I've never seen it this dry at this time of year," Millard Krick, of Loretto, Tenn., said as he prepared to sell his cattle at Tennessee Valley Livestock Auction. "I hadn't planned on selling anything right now, but I just don't have the pasture to keep them. My grass is burned up and my water supply is running low. Two of my ponds have dried up."

Some farmers are feeding their cattle the hay they had planned to use this winter. Many have no hay to spare and have no option other than selling their cattle.

Barney Urban, of Loretto, said one of his hayfields that normally produces about 365 rolls yielded fewer than 200 this year.

Colbert County farmer Danny McWilliams Jr. said the situation is grave for many cattle farmers. "When you don't have any grass or water and you're already running low on hay, you don't have a lot of options," McWilliams said.

Martin said the impact of the cattle selloff would be felt for years in northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee.

"The cattle barns have big numbers now, but we're going to be hurting next year," Martin said. "The mama cows that are being sold this year aren't going to be around to produce next year's calf crop."

Martin said many of the cattle being sold in northwest Alabama are headed to farms in Texas and Missouri, which have received plenty of rain this spring.

Floyd said the strong demand for cattle in Missouri and Texas has prevented cattle prices from collapsing in Alabama. "Prices are down a little, but not too bad. If they were dry out west and we didn't have any place to ship our cattle, we would really be hurting."

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@timesdaily.com.