In the south of the country, the dairy farms are having difficulties due to the lack of rainfall. “The situation is complicated, we see the climate issue with great concern”said to The Observer Justino Zavala, dairy farmer from Canelones.
In dairy farms in that part of the country it went from a growth rate in the grasslands of 70 kilos of dry matter per day to a rate of 20 kilos per dayhe explained.
Dairy farmers are unable to accumulate water for corn and sorghum plantings, which are about to start.
The cold is also affecting the pastures and there are almost no reserveswhich conditions costs, which have not fallen, he explained.
There is still grass in the fields and that is why the cows come with good production, “but the regrowth does not come, that’s why we are worried about what will happen in October if there are no good rains”, he warned.
Low fields and few reserves
The cattle herd has good body condition, but among breeders there is concern about forage reservesand because, due to the lack of water, “the cattle are not being able to take advantage of the spring,” said Diego Oribe.
This Aberdeen Angus breeder works in Treinta y Tres, where the verdeos “have stayed”, due to the lack of water. Although the fields are green, they are lowand while the cattle come out of winter, the sights are set on the weather forecasts, which do not announce good rains.
Nicolás Autino, breeder of Shorthorn cattle and crossbreeds, works in another part of the country, in Nueva Helvecia, Colonia, and agrees with Oribe: “The field is far from showing the situation according to the time, and this (the lack of water) has repercussions in the future in the preparation of reserves”.
In that area, the fields are not only lacking in water, but they also have a situation caused by a dry winter with intense cold, which directly hit the pasturesexplained the producer. This has forced ranchers to resort to forage reserves made at the end of the summer “which luckily could be realized.”
The last significant rainfall in Nueva Helvecia –at the end of August– left a record of 70 mm, and in September it has rained between 5 and 10 mm. “I would not classify the situation as critical, but logically one views the situation with concern, at a time when the hours of sunshine are longer and spring is on the way,” he stressed.
sheep in the north
Although in the north there has been little rain, between zero and 12 mm in Salto and Artigas in the last precipitations, informed Matías Orihuela, a technician from the Uruguayan Wool Secretariat (SUL), the flocks have very good body conditions.
At the time of the incarnation, good rains and a greening of the fields officiated Flushing natural (increase in the amount of food prior to the calving) and therefore a good percentage of twin births is expected.
In addition, if we add to that that there have been no big storms, a good signal is expected. So far the calving “has been spectacular”he claimed.
In Artigas the situation of the pastures is a little more complicated than in Salto fields, due to the drought and because the grass has not grown since winter, in areas where it has rained a little more the natural field is good, he commented. Now the producers are attentive to what will happen with the Niña summer announcement, which could complicate themhe indicated.
