May is normally a slow season at Torrington Livestock Markets, Wyoming’s largest livestock marketing company.
This time of year, the eastern Wyoming sale barn typically holds one cattle sale a week, usually moving 400 to 700 head on Fridays.
But on Wednesday, Torrington Livestock Markets held a special drought sale pushing 6,500 head through the barn while showing another 2,500 head through its Cattle Country video auction platform.
By the end of the sale, more than 9,000 head of cattle had sold — cattle that normally would still be on pasture or wouldn’t hit the market until late summer.
“We will sell over 9,000 head today that normally we wouldn’t,” said Lander Nicodemus, co-owner of Torrington Livestock Markets and Cattle Country Video. “Today’s sale is because of drought.”
The unusually large sale reflects a growing reality across Wyoming as dry conditions force ranchers to sell cattle early because grass is scarce and feed supplies are tightening.
“Guys are selling because they’re droughted out,” Nicodemus said. “It is absolutely an uncommon year.”
Drought Forcing Hard Decisions
At Williamson Land and Cattle, based in Moorcroft, drought-related selloffs happen every year. But this year feels different, said Jeran Williamson, who handles marketing for the family business.
“Drought forces cattle to have to move,” Williamson said.
Williamson estimated about 20 of the company’s customers have sold off cattle this year because of drought, with about half of those producers being in Wyoming.
“I think there’s a bigger region affected by it than most years,” he said.
Recently, Williamson Land and Cattle helped a Riverton-area rancher sell cows because of dry conditions. A social media post advertising the sale reads: “Drought is forcing these girls to move, and that means a real buying opportunity for somebody ready to step in and take advantage of it.”
The timing is unusual, Williamson said.
That’s because cows are calving now, a season when ranchers are typically focused on building herds rather than selling them off.
“The seller has to get them gone,” Williamson said. “For someone looking to buy cattle, it’s a pretty good opportunity.”
Drought sales often mean discounted prices, not because of poor quality cattle, but because ranchers need to move animals quickly before forage conditions worsen.
“It’s a tricky place to be,” Williamson said.
It’s a rock-or-hard-place-decision for ranchers: sell animals at a discount and lose money, or potentially watch their animals die during drought conditions and be a total loss.
Echoes Of 2012
Nicodemus said many ranchers have compared this year’s conditions to Wyoming’s devastating 2012 drought.
“Many would put it up against one of the worst droughts they remember,” he said. “This is historically significant.”
Wyoming’s dry winter set the stage for growing anxiety this spring, he said.
“We had a less-than-average winter,” he said. “We got warm really early. It caused a lot of people to panic a little early.”
Now, ranchers continue to watch the weather closely.
“There’s a lot more panic now,” he said. “I think the next couple of weeks will really tell. We need moisture to get good summer grass.
"We’ll hope for a couple more rain showers within that spring moisture window.”
A Potential Bright Spot
Wyoming meteorologist Don Day said he understands based on grass conditions why ranchers are selling cattle.
"We're far from a situation where we could say we're going to be fine," he told Cowboy State Daily about Wyoming’s drought outlook for the summer.
Day said he is watching a weather system expected to hit the state late this weekend and early next week that could bring some promise to scorched-dry land. He said he expects a lot of the areas that got moisture last week to get moisture again with this latest system.
"It will likely warm up and stay warm into early June," Day said.
Beyond that, "There are indications that we'll have fairly frequent chances for showers and thunderstorms," he said, adding that those showers could be spotty.
Where The Cattle Are Going
Most of the cattle sold Wednesday in Torrington will head to feedlots, Nicodemus said. Others may be shipped south to states with better grazing conditions.
Williamson said his company moved about 500 head south last week to states like Oklahoma and New Mexico. Buyers in North Dakota have also been buying cattle from drought-driven Wyoming sales.
“There are places for cattle to go,” Williamson said.
He added that drought selloffs are even more severe in parts of Nebraska and Colorado.
Still, Wyoming producers are feeling the strain.
A large share of the cattle sold Wednesday likely would have been marketed months from now, perhaps during Labor Day consignment sales.
Instead, they’re leaving early.
Nicodemus said a selloff like this will postpone any sort of cattle herd rebuild in this region – further complicating a market that is already at a historic 75-year low.
“You can’t rebuild in a drought,” he said.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
