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July 27, 2018 CapitalPress.com By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Wolf depredation of livestock sets record in Idaho, commission finds Capital Press By BRAD CARLSON Cattle on feed up 4 percent, marketings keep pace Capital Press Cattle on feed in large U.S. feedlots on July 1 were 4 percent higher than a year ago and the highest invento- ry since USDA National Ag- ricultural Statistics Service began the on-feed series in 1996. USDA’s report held no surprises. It continues the trend of 4 percent to 4.3 per- cent increases that have taken place the last three months, Derrell Peel, livestock mar- keting specialist with Okla- homa State University Exten- sion, said. “Marketings are also up, so it doesn’t really change the story at all,” he said. “We’ve got more cattle, and we’re going to see more cattle — for 18 months any- way,” he said. It’s an inevitable conse- quence of the herd expansion that began in 2014, he said. “There’s not much you can do to avoid the supply increase. But there are things you can do to make it worse like delaying marketings,” he said. That backs up cattle, lead- ing to bigger supplies and heavier carcass weights. The combination results in an even bigger increase in beef production, he said. June marketings of fed cattle going to slaughter were up 1 percent to more than 2 million head, and placements into feedlots were also up 1 percent to 1.8 million head. Feedlots have stayed rel- atively current and are keep- ing carcass weights in check, although they’re up a bit, he said. “They’re showing disci- pline in marketing more cattle through the system,” he said. The supply of cattle that have been on feed more than 120 days is running some 28 percent ahead of last year’s pace, analysts with the Dai- Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press File The number of cattle on feed is the highest it’s been since 1996, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. ly Livestock Report said on Monday. “The large on-feed inven- tory and the large inventory of market-ready cattle should keep beef markets well sup- ported in the short term. Mar- ketings in August remain key and will be critical for cattle prices post Labor Day,” they said. Good demand is absorb- ing the extra supply, and all markets through the produc- tion chain have done pretty good for the most part, Peel said. Increased placements were no surprise, as it contin- ued the trend of the previous 18 months. What is notable is the number of heifers in the feedlot mix over the last year, he said. Heifers on feed on July 1 increased 8 percent over big numbers in July 2017, which were 11 percent higher than July 2016. A 13 percent in- crease was noted in October and those heifer numbers were up 16 percent in Jan- uary and 14 percent in May, NASS reported. “The number of heifers in feedlots has been really big. It’s one more indication that we are really slowing down heifer retention,” Peel said. CS Beef Packers proposes air-quality permit modification CS Beef Packers has requested the Idaho De- partment of Environmental Quality modify the compa- ny’s air-quality permit. The permit regulates emissions from the packing and rendering plant in Kuna. The proposed permit modification would allow CS to increase throughput to the rendering plant and to increase biogas genera- tion, with a subsequent gain in biogas combusted in the boilers and flare, the depart- ment said in a release. Emis- sions must remain within legally allowable limits. Idaho DEQ will provide a 30-day public comment period if it receives a written request by 5 p.m. Mountain Aug. 3. The company said in its July 11 application to modi- fy the 2015 permit that while capacity remains about 1,700 head of cattle per day, “hav- ing operated the facility for approximately one year, CS Beef identified some oper- ational differences between what was expected when the facility was designed and the actual functioning.” CS Beef proposes to in- crease the daily meat and bone meal throughput limit from 102 tons to 262 tons — initial assumptions may have been underestimated for the facility design, the company said — but leave blood meal throughput un- changed. Sulphur dioxide emis- sions would increase from two of the plant’s four boilers. CS said proposed changes would not affect compliance with applicable ambient air-quality stan- dards. Requests for a comment period and related questions should be directed to Tanya Chin, DEQ State Office Air Quality Division, 1410 N. Hilton, Boise, Idaho 83706, or tanya.chin@deq.idaho. gov. Wolf depredation cas- es this year in Idaho are at a record high, according to the Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission, which said the predators have killed 61 cat- tle and sheep from January through June. “There seems to be greater awareness of cattle and sheep producers that the potential is there that wolves are coming into more conflict with live- stock,” said Todd Grimm, fed- eral Wildlife Services director for Idaho. From July 1, 2017, through June 30, federal authorities confirmed 113 wolf kills us- ing necropsies on livestock. Overall, 217 ranches called authorities to investigate pos- sible wolf kills. Both are a record, the com- mission said in a press release. “Chronic livestock dep- redation” issues affect Idaho counties Lemhi and Custer in the east central mountains, Valley in the west central mountains and Elmore east of Boise, the commission said, citing state and federal offi- cials. Last year, the number of confirmed wolf depredations in Valley County more than doubled to 38, from 17, after Cascade, Idaho, cattle ranch- er Phil Davis and commis- sion staff met with ranchers to discuss the different kinds IRRC Wolves have killed 61 cattle and sheep in the first six months of the year, according to the Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission. of depredation that can occur. Davis has had more than 60 wolf kills on his family’s land since the mid-1990s. Three of the six cattle that wolves killed there in 2017 were full- grown cows. Wolves, he said, “are getting more bold, more adept at it. And they’re killing cows, not just calves now.” In an interview, Davis said that for years direct physi- cal trauma was thought to be primarily how wolves killed livestock. But now there is growing evidence to suggest many of the deaths result from myopathy, muscle weakness caused by muscle fiber dys- function and extended exer- tion after a wolf attack. “Death can come in min- utes, hours or days from my- opathy,” he said. For example, a cow defending a calf could die some distance from the attack following extended ex- ertion. The commission recom- mends that Wildlife Services be called at 208-378-5631 to perform a necropsy if there is any doubt about the cause of death. The commission said wolves have killed more than 700 cattle and 550 sheep in Idaho, impacting 412 ranch- ers statewide. Wolves, living in an estimated 80 to 100 packs, can be found in much of the state north of Interstate 84, the commission said. IRRC board member John Peavey, a rancher near Carey, said it has been federal and state policy from the outset to control wolves when they prey on livestock. “We need to keep wolf numbers down to a manage- able level, and that takes per- 7 sistent diligence by all con- cerned to work on this chronic issue,” Peavey said. “Wolves are here to stay, but we need to keep them as wild as pos- sible to ensure they’re eating wild game. … Once they start killing livestock, they need to be removed because we know they’ll go out and kill live- stock again.” Davis said some of the increase in documented inci- dents could reflect that more livestock deaths once thought to have other causes now are being investigated as poten- tially wolf-related. Wolves killed seven sheep in three separate attacks be- tween July 9 and July 13 in the Sawtooth National Rec- reation Area outside Stanley. The Associated Press report- ed federal authorities in turn killed three wolves, in addi- tion to 46 already killed this year through June 30. Salmon Falls Land and Livestock was the site of the recent kills in a single band of sheep despite the ranch post- ing six guard dogs and setting up nighttime strobe lights and noise makers, the commission said. “I don’t know what more we can do,” said rancher Mark Henslee of Salmon Falls. “We haven’t had any problems in several years. But with as many wolves as we have had in Idaho, you’re going to get hit somewhere, sometime.” Beef herd growth slowing; plenty of feeder cattle By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press The number of beef and dairy cattle in the U.S. on July 1 totaled 103.2 million head, up 1 percent from a year ear- lier. Beef cows and heifers that have calved increased 1 per- cent year over year to 32.2 million. Their dairy coun- terparts held steady at 9.4 million, USDA National Ag- ricultural Statistics Service reported on Friday. Beef cow replacement heifers were down 2 percent at 4.6 million head, and milk cow replacement heifers were unchanged at 4.2 million. Lower heifer retention in the beef industry and double digit increases in beef cow slaughter imply a smaller beef cow herd by next year, Dai- ly Livestock Report analysts said on Monday. They estimate beef cow slaughter is up 10.8 percent in the first half of the year com- pared with the same period last year. “Dry conditions in a num- ber of key cow-calf producing regions have impacted feed supplies and likely pushed more cows to market this year,” they said. “The beef industry has a tendency to overshoot the market during expansion, leading to liquidation imme- diately after. That may not happen this time,” Derrell Peel, livestock marketing spe- cialist with Oklahoma State University Extension, said. Beef cow replacement heifers are down 2 percent at 4.6 million head, NASS reports. A lot could happen to change the outlook, but it looks like cow numbers will reach a peak, stabilize and move sideways more than anything else, he said. “It almost looks to me like we could stabilize and do a soft landing,” he said. But there are lots of feed- er cattle available, and they’ll keep coming for another 18 months. This year’s calf crop is es- timated at 36.5 million head, an increase of 2 percent year over year and the largest calf crop since 2007. About 73 percent have already been born with an additional 9.9 million expected in the sec- ond half of the year, NASS reported. The combined invento- ry of steers, heifers not re- tained for replacement and calves adjusted for cattle on feed shows an estimated July 1 feeder supply of 37.1 mil- lion head outside feedlots, he said. That’s up half of a percent year over year. It’s not a big number, but cattle supplies Capital Press File will continue to grow, he said. “I think we’re adding mod- estly to the herd, so there’ll be more ahead into 2020. Even if we stop expanding today, we have enough feeder supply for another year and a half at least,” he said. The number of beef cows is up almost 1 percent year over year, and he expects the January to January beef cow inventory on Jan. 1, 2019, to be up 0.5 percent. So there’ll be that many more additional calves, plus or minus, he said. WE SPECIALIZE IN BULK BAGS! BAGS: • Seed Bags • Fertilizer Bags • Feed Bags • Potato Bags • Printed Bags • Plain Bags • Bulk Bags • Totes • Woven Polypropylene • Bopp • Polyethylene • Pocket Bags • Roll Stock & More! 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