Above Average Year for Grazing

Despite all you hear about over-grazing of western lands by cattle and sheep, and the environmentalist outcry for letting the public lands lay unused, except for hikers and hunters, the lands are resilient and the abundant moisture in most areas make 2008 a prime year.

Excitement is in the air from ranchers across the west, as record snowfall and rains have the grass greening up early, with prospects to last well into summer, even if summer moisture is sparse. You can't be a rancher without being an eternal optimist, so of course, excellent summer rains will sustain the spring and winter's green.

This time of year, as graziers attend auctions at livestock markets and on private ranches to buy cattle to turn out on the range, they are spurred on by the excellent grazing prospects. Feeder cattle prices, while down some from recent years, are still at profitable levels and well above what could be expected, given what's happened with fed cattle, high input costs such as grain, fuel and the credit crisis.

Green grass is what sustains cattle on the range, and the prospect of it is what is sustaining the current feeder cattle market.

With a few days of spring-like weather on this leap-day, before the heavy snows of March come down on us, we are getting just a taste of what is yet before us.

What an inspiring time for those with ranching in their blood.