By iHeartMedia's Corey Olson
Mar 9, 2021
No part of Texas was spared from last month's historic winter storms and freezing temperatures, and that includes the cattle industry. A new report from Texas A&M's Agrilife Extension details the impact of the storms on Texas cattle, with the state suffering an estimated $228 million in livestock losses. Cattle processing also plummeted the week of the storms, but began to rebound the following week as temperatures returned to normal.
In addition to the many cattle lost, those that survived had to use more energy to stay warm, and that impacts their size and quality. "After the freeze, the animals weighed quite a bit less than they would on a normal cycle," says Ron Gill, Ph.D., Agrilife Extension beef cattle specialist. "That means less beef moving forward out of that phase, which will suppress the supply just a little bit."