Consumers likely will pay higher prices for beef, thanks to the December storms that swept across Colorado and other states known for cattle production.
“I expect we will see higher prices in the short term as a result of this storm. We have still got feedlots without power,” said Terry Stokes, chief executive of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. “This storm has hurt the whole beef belt.”
It is unlikely that prices will spike for more than a week or two, said Jack Whittier, beef extension specialist at Colorado State University.
On Friday, cattle going to slaughter sold for about $88.50 per 100 pounds, said Joe Schuele, director of trade media for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
He wouldn’t speculate on how much prices might jump as a result of the weather.
Two storms that dumped a total of more than 3 feet of snow on the metro area also delivered snow or drenching rain and hail to cattle-producing areas of Nebraska, Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles.
Ice and heavy snow downed hundreds of miles of power lines. At least 60,000 homes and businesses in western Kansas, more than 15,000 in Nebraska and 6,000-plus in Colorado and Oklahoma were without electricity, and some utility officials warned it could take more than a week to restore it, according to The Associated Press.
“This has really had an amazing impact on the cattle and feed belt, which runs from central Texas up to Nebraska,” Schuele said. “Some saw heavy snow, some saw heavy rain and sleet, but if you took the entire area of this storm, almost every piece of it affected a critical (cattle-producing) area.”
The storms could lead to a short- term reduction in supply, the experts said.
Even if few cattle die as a result of the storms, the weather will affect the weight gain of cows being fattened for slaughter, slowing their progress to market, Schuele said.
“They’re not adding weight the way you would like them to, due to the weather conditions and the challenges of getting them feed and water. Your first priority is to get them enough to survive,” he said, “and feeding them in a way that keeps them adding weight becomes a secondary priority.”
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com.
