Last year was one of the warmest on record in the Northeast. It was the third warmest year in the last 127 years in New York behind only 2012 and 1998.

The drought of 2021 hit Western beef operations particularly hard. Reports from the field indicate pregnancy rates last fall were 3% to 10% lower than normal with scattered reports of greater reductions in pregnancy rates.

After two years of La Nina weather patterns, a neutral year is hopefully on the horizon. Meteorologist Matt Makens presented the weather outlook for the CattleFax outlook seminar at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Cattle Industry Convention in Houston.

Under the drought conditions of the 2021 growing season, I heard many concerns from livestock producers about forage supply shortages, low quality of the forages available and, of course, nitrate accumulation in those forages.

I’ve had calls from two friends lately. “We’re out of hay, I don’t know what to do, can you help us?”