Drought Expanding South Of The Border

Jun 10, 2021

Crops in the U.S. are looking OK for now, however drought continues to expand.

Ben Buckner is a grains analyst with AgResource Company.

"Moisture demand is not very high and soil moisture, up until maybe the middle part of May, was OK. It's changing very quickly. We're hearing of some water use rates of half to 6/10ths of an inch per day, which you can't even offset with irrigation. Drought continues to expand, will expand further assuming two week forecasts verify. The real message is that moisture accumulation so far, since about late winter, has been on pace with 2012, which if you remember was a devastating drought in the U.S. I don't think widespread catastrophe is the most probable scenario, but crops will be going backwards over the next 2 weeks and the big question is whether July weather improves."

The USDA released its June WASDE report Thursday. Buckner says the report came across mostly as expected.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.