A dairy market analyst says it will take several months to
understand dairy losses in Texas and surrounding areas after severe winter
storms cut farmers and processors off from power and essential services.
Sarina Sharp with the Daily Dairy Report tells Brownfield
while most processors fired back up Sunday, following natural gas shutoffs and
limited travel, damages to the industry could be catastrophic.
“I estimate that between 2,000 and 3,000 loads of milk will
have to be dumped over the course of the past week and into the first part of
this week,” she says.
Comparing it to Winter Storm Goliath which hit the same
region in 2015, Sharp says milk production is again expected to be affected for
several months.
“Their milk production was down roughly six percent in
January in New Mexico and still down significantly in February even through the
storm hit in late December,” she says.
“Slightly less decline in milk production in Texas only because the
state is bigger.”
Sharp also expects an uptick in slaughter numbers for
animals lost or culled following the storms and commends farmers for their
dedication to their livestock during extremely difficult weather.
--Brownfield AgNews