Associated Press | July 23, 2002
FORT PIERRE, S.D. - Leaning against a wall at the Fort Pierre Livestock Auction, third-generation rancher Bernie Lauing watches as pen after pen of young calves are steered into the auction ring and sold - two or three months ahead of time.
Summer usually is a slow time for cattle sales. But this summer, very little rain and day after day of searing heat have left about 70 percent of South Dakota's rangeland and pastures in poor condition. That means little for cattle to eat or drink, and it's prompting a huge sell-off from herds, mainly to buyers in states where drought isn't a problem.
So many cattle were trucked in for a recent sale at Fort Pierre that the auction began at 8 a.m. and didn't end until 7 a.m. the next day.
"It's a sad deal," says Lauing, 57. "I've had tough times before. This is the worst."
More than 4,000 head were sold that day, compared with 600 normally sold this time of year. The usually weekly auction, which draws buyers and sellers from several states, is running twice a week these days.
"That's a man's livelihood right there," Johnny Smith, a partner in the auction, says as he points to a batch of cows and calves awaiting sale. "God willing and a good banker, and he'll be back in business again someday."
Prices haven't been bad, although Lauing says he got $145 less for each calf because it was 160 pounds lighter than it would have been if sold this fall.
"It's amazing that prices are holding up as good as they are," he says.
Although the sale barn is fouled by the smell of sweaty cattle, the air-conditioned building offers farmers and ranchers relief from the searing heat. Men wait in the bleachers as jittery cattle are herded onto the sawdust-covered floor so buyers can get a good look at them. Sellers chat about the dry weather, lack of new grass and the stress on cattle, all the while keeping their ears tuned to the auctioneer's staccato cadence.
Cattle are the mainstay of South Dakota agriculture, normally accounting for about a third of the state's farm income.
Nearly 108,000 cattle were sold at the five largest markets in the western half of South Dakota during May and June, 82 percent above a year earlier, says Dr. Sam Holland, the state veterinarian.
Jerry Vogeler, executive director of the South Dakota Livestock Auction Markets Association, estimates as many as 500,000 of the state's 4 million cattle, or 12.5 percent, may be sold prematurely because of the deepening drought.
"It's gut-wrenching," he says. "It's beyond serious. It's critical."
Some ranchers are selling part of their breeding stock. The drought has forced others to liquidate entire herds, which is akin to selling all the machinery in a factory. Without machinery, there is no income and no business.
"It's a deal where only the tough and rough will survive," Smith says. "Drought makes you stop and figure your hold card."
Even if substantial rains fall soon, it's already too late for many ranchers. Still, many cling to the hope for moisture.
"You'll never see a cattleman who isn't optimistic or he wouldn't be in the business," Smith says.
Seated inside the Fort Pierre sale barn is Mickey Simons of White Owl, about 60 miles east of the Black Hills. The rancher, accompanied by his wife and three children, is selling all 170 of his 1-year-old cattle.
"We've got no grass, and our dams and wells are dry," says Simons, who has ranched for 20 years.
Those who sell more cattle this year will see their incomes rise, but their remaining herds will bring far less income next year, Simons says. He says he might have to sell even more of his herd if rain doesn't come soon.
"It's getting close to being too late," Simons says.
Bud Longbrake, 39, a national saddle-bronc champion who raises cattle in northwestern South Dakota near Dupree, says his ranch may run out of water for cattle before it runs out of grass.
"It's going to break a lot of ranchers," he says of the dry spell. "No ifs, ands or buts."
The lack of water for his cattle is particularly troublesome.
"But it will rain someday," he says. "It always does. All it takes is one good rain, and everybody will be hootin' and hollerin'."
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