Rapid weather changes prove tough for northern BC cattle ranchers

It’s been a tough few weeks for cattle in BC having to deal with extreme temperature swings going from -39 to +13 to finish off January.

BC Cattlemen’s Association President, Kevin Boon told Vista Radio ranchers in the province are paying close attention to the weather and taking measures such as providing shelter and bedding, as well as adjusting feed to protect their herds.

“It’s that sudden change that is very hard. There are lots of parts for the ranchers themselves that are inconvenienced like the frozen waters and the tractors that won’t start but the main thing for our guys is the wellfare of our animals.”

“One of the things with cattle is when they are eating forage and stuff, it generates heat units and that is why a high-fiber diet of forage for them makes their digestive system work harder and it creates heat units so they consume more feed.”

Boon added when cattle go through a 30-degree or more weather change, it can be rough on their hair coat, which hasn’t quite developed yet.

He mentioned ranchers across BC including the north, are also paying attention to the warm weather melting snowpacks prematurely, which may compound current drought conditions.

Right now, as ranchers navigate through El Nino, Boon stated storing water is paramount.

“We can’t do anything when the water or the moisture comes out of the sky but we have to be able to store it. We depend on that snowpack to fill those reservoirs, dams, and ponds. We haven’t gotten that and when we get these warm swings with the warm temperatures in the beginning and we have not got the frost in the ground and a lot of that moisture is sinking in.”

Simply put, ranchers need enough reserve heading into the summer.

“We need to have enough of that reserve for the summer and we are a long ways from getting that. We need it throughout the summer as well but when we can get the storage and depending what area you are in, the further north you go, the less irrigation you do get but in the south, we really depend on that storage water for irrigation,” said Boon.

“Just having those ponds and stuff full creates self-irrigation where we get seepage into the ground and it helps. Water is the blood that ruins through the veins of our earth’s source – we can talk about the nutrient value of the earth and everything else but at the end of the day, if we haven’t got water we can’t produce food, we can’t grow it, we can’t drink it ourselves.”