Storms stunt sales of Ky. cattle beef virtually halted
US - Storms that buried half the country's prime cattle ranges under huge drifts of wind-blown snow have virtually halted cattle sales in Kentucky.
9 January 2007
1 minute read
That has put "a kink in the chain" that links the state's cattle farmers to world markets, said Dave Maples, executive vice president of the Kentucky Cattlemen's Association.
Kentucky is the largest cattle-producing state east of the Mississippi River with more than 1.1 million beef cows, according to the association, and ranks fifth nationally in the number of cattle farms.
Stockyards in Mount Sterling and Russellville canceled sales in the last week, said broker Carolyn Sorrell, owner of Fox Creek Cattle Co. in Hopkinsville.
"There wasn't anybody that wanted any cattle. Even my Texas customers were talking about all the mud they've got" from being on the warmer side of the weather fronts generating the storms.
Kentucky cattlemen will have to rely on stores of hay or pony up for extra feed to keep their animals until the markets get moving again, Sorrell said.
Source: Courier-Journal
