Farmers across Canada including parts of Manitoba are dealing with dry conditions which could cause cattle producers to sell off some of their herds if they can’t find feed.

According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada continued precipitation deficits and above average temperatures led to persisting and worsening drought across much of the country in July.

“Hay yields across Manitoba were below normal at the end of the month, and rainfall is required in the southeast and Interlake regions for hay and pasture regrowth,” read a report from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Manitoba Beef Producers director and Interlake cow-calf producer Dianne Riding of Lake Francis, Man. has 132 head of cattle but she said this year she may have to scale back her operation. Riding said she’s only getting about a quarter of normal yields from her hay fields.

“Our hay fields never got the rain when they should’ve and it’s very dry,” said Riding. “Very dry for us.”

“That means this fall that we got some really hard decisions to make here because we, at this point, do not have half the hay we need to feed these cattle.”

Riding said other producers in Manitoba are facing a similar situation. 

“We are going to go into a downsizing mode,” she said. “If we cannot find the feed people will be selling the livestock."

“There could be quite a glut of cattle going on the market.”

Argyle, Man. farmer Colin Crockatt is one of the fortunate ones. He said he saw the drought coming and stocked up on feed in the spring for his 80 head cow-calf operation.

“We are quite lucky,” said Crockatt. “We went out and spoke for hay and bought some back in April and May when we saw the drought coming.”

Dalhousie University Food Distribution professor Sylvain Charlebois said if more cattle hit the market the situation could have an impact on the price consumers pay for beef at the store but he added there are many factors at play.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if prices at retail fall slightly in the fall but in the winter they go back up again because of lower inventories,” said Charlebois.