"CHANGE" - The Number Of Cattle In The U.S. Is The Smallest It Has Been Since 1951, But population has doubled.

"CHANGE" - The Number Of Cattle In The U.S. Is The Smallest It Has Been Since 1951, But population has doubled. By Michael Snyder.

The last time the number of cattle in the United States was this low was 63 years ago.  But back in 1951, there were only about 154 million people living in the United States.  

Now, there are more than 313 million people living in this nation.  The size of the U.S. cattle herd has been shrinking for seven years in a row, and we are rapidly heading toward a beef shortage unlike anything that this country has ever experienced before.  

Of course the primary reason for this is the extreme drought which has been plaguing the western half of the country.  As I noted recently, 2013 was the driest year that the state of California has ever experienced, and due to the lack of water ranchers across the western half of the nation have been selling off their cattle to be slaughtered.  If you check out the U.S. Drought Monitor, you can see that almost the entire state of California is officially experiencing “D3 Extreme Drought” right now.  If this drought does not end, we will eventually be facing a food crisis in the United States that is greater than any of us have ever seen in our entire lifetimes.

According to ABC News, the size of the U.S. cattle herd is already down to less than 88 million animals…

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reports that the U.S. inventory of cattle and calves totaled 87.7 million animals as of Jan. 1. That was down by about 1.6 million cattle, or 2 percent, compared with this time last year.
The agency says this is the lowest January inventory since 1951.

As I noted above, the number of cattle in this country has been shrinking for seven years in a row.  If we still had the same number of people that we did back in 1951, this would not be too much of a problem.  Unfortunately, the reality is that we now have more than twice as many people to feed.
And of course this drought is not just causing problem for ranchers.  If rain does not start falling, there are rural communities all over California that will soon have no water to drink…

The punishing drought that has swept California is now threatening the state’s drinking water supply.
With no sign of rain, 17 rural communities providing water to 40,000 people are in danger of running out within 60 to 120 days. State officials said that the number was likely to rise in the months ahead after the State Water Project, the main municipal water distribution system, announced on Friday that it did not have enough water to supplement the dwindling supplies of local agencies that provide water to an additional 25 million people. It is first time the project has turned off its spigot in its 54-year history.

Are you starting to understand?

This is serious.

And according to that same article, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley believes that this is the worst drought in that area of the country in 500 years…

“We are on track for having the worst drought in 500 years,” said B. Lynn Ingram, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Berkeley.
Already the drought, technically in its third year, is forcing big shifts in behavior. Farmers in Nevada said they had given up on even planting, while ranchers in Northern California and New Mexico said they were being forced to sell off cattle as fields that should be four feet high with grass are a blanket of brown and stunted stalks.

But all droughts eventually end, right?

Most people assume that major droughts only last for a year or two and then things return to normal.
Unfortunately, that is not necessarily the case for the state of California.  In fact, scientists have discovered that throughout history there have been many droughts that have lasted for more than 10 years in the state, and one extremely long drought that lasted for 240 years…

Through studies of tree rings, sediment and other natural evidence, researchers have documented multiple droughts in California that lasted 10 or 20 years in a row during the past 1,000 years — compared to the mere three-year duration of the current dry spell. The two most severe megadroughts make the Dust Bowl of the 1930s look tame: a 240-year-long drought that started in 850 and, 50 years after the conclusion of that one, another that stretched at least 180 years.
“We continue to run California as if the longest drought we are ever going to encounter is about seven years,” said Scott Stine, a professor of geography and environmental studies at Cal State East Bay. “We’re living in a dream world.”

In a worst case scenario, we could be looking at a drought in California that does not end during any of our lifetimes.

If this drought continues, food prices are going to go up, and not by just a little bit.

In fact, there are signs that this is already starting to happen.  The following is an excerpt from a message that was recently posted on Steve Quayle’s website…

I became friends with the butcher at Save A Lot, when I can meat I will bring him and the Manager a can of what ever it is I made..today it was bean soup..Anyway, he came out to talk with me he was very concerned..he bought out his sheet of the meats he was getting and ALL of it has gone up in price, the beef items went up a dollar plus per pound. He told me that his boss said that if the hamburger goes up again they will not be able to offer it on their 5 packs of meat for 20 any longer.

You can read the rest of that post right here.
Perhaps you are thinking that you will just avoid meat for a while.
Well, the truth is that prices for fruits and vegetables are going to go into the stratosphere as well.  In a previous article, I included the following quote which shows how extremely dependent the rest of the nation is on fruits and vegetables grown in California…

The state produces 99 percent of the artichokes grown in the US, 44 percent of asparagus, a fifth of cabbage, two-thirds of carrots, half of bell peppers, 89 percent of cauliflower, 94 percent of broccoli, and 95 percent of celery. Leafy greens? California’s got the market cornered: 90 percent of the leaf lettuce we consume, along with and 83 percent of Romaine lettuce and 83 percent of fresh spinach, come from the big state on the left side of the map. Cali also cranks a third of total fresh tomatoes consumed in the U.S.—and 95 percent of ones destined for cans and other processing purposes.
As for fruit, I get that 86 percent of lemons and a quarter of oranges come from there; its sunny climate makes it perfect for citrus, and lemons store relatively well. Ninety percent of avocados? Fine. But 84 percent of peaches, 88 percent of fresh strawberries, and 97 percent of fresh plums?
Come on. Surely the other 49 states can do better.

If this drought does not end, it is eventually going to result in a nationwide food crisis.
Sadly, most Americans are totally oblivious to all of this because the mainstream media keeps telling them that everything is going to be just fine.Hmmm.....Canada get ready to 'Donate' the Great lakes to the imperial president.

Related: 

High Plains Aquifer that runs through 8 states quickly being tapped out.

Historic Drought, Giant Dust Storms, Mother Nature's version of "CHANGE".

The Largest Natural Disaster In U.S. History: The Endless Drought Of 2012 Will Bake America Well Into August.

The Largest Natural Disaster In U.S. History: The Endless Drought Of 2012 Will Bake America Well Into August.(AP).By Michael Snyder.Why is the heartland of the United States experiencing such a horrific drought right now? At the moment, approximately 61 percent of the entire nation is experiencing drought conditions, and this is absolutely devastating farmers and ranchers all over the country.

Less than two weeks ago I wrote an article asking what would happen if these drought conditions persisted, and now we are finding out. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has created the largest natural disaster area in U.S. history. The USDA has declared 1,016 counties in 26 U.S. states to be disaster areas. The USDA declaration basically covered about half of the nation, and there is now no denying how horrible this drought really is. You can see a map of this disaster area right here.

This endless drought is being compared to the nightmarish drought of 1988, and if it persists into August it could become perhaps the worst drought that America has ever seen. The USDA says that approximately 60 percent of all corn in the country is experiencing "moderate to extreme" drought conditions. If this drought does not end soon, the losses are going to be mind blowing. Already, it is estimated that farmers and ranchers have suffered billions of dollars in damage. How much worse can things get?

At the beginning of July many were hoping that we would soon see some rain and that we could still see a decent corn harvest.
Unfortunately, the drought has gotten even worse since that time. The following is from an article in the Chicago Tribune....

The whole of Iowa was classified as abnormally dry as of July 10 and 12.7 percent of the top corn and soybean producing state was in severe drought, up from 0.8 percent the prior week.

Harder-hit Illinois, the No. 2 corn and soy state, was 66.28 percent under severe drought or worse, up from 40 percent the previous week.

Severe to exceptional drought covered 80.15 percent of Indiana, versus 68.84 percent the prior week.

Conditions in Missouri also deteriorated, with 82.54 percent of the state in severe drought or worse, compared with 78.83 percent the week before.

That is not good news.

Posted below is the latest update from the U.S. drought monitor. As you can see, nearly the entire southern half of the country is extremely dry right now....

It is being projected that in some of the major corn growing areas as much as 60 percent of the crops could be lost.

Many farmers that had been desperately hoping for rain are now becoming resigned to the fact that their crops are not going to make it. The following is from an article in the New York Times....

'Corn is anywhere from knee-high to waist-high,' Gonzalee Martin, agriculture and natural resources educator with Purdue University’s Allen County extension office, told The News-Sentinel. 'Much of it has already tassled with no ears at all. Much of it’s going to be completely lost'

When your livelihood depends on the weather, an endless drought can be extremely stressful. Many farmers that had been anticipating a bumper crop this year are now faced with an utter disaster. The following example comes from CNN....

Now, as punishing drought grips the Midwest, Villwock, 61, walks his hard-hit 4,000 acres in southwest Indiana in utter dismay.

Where there should have been tall, dark green, leafy plants, there now stand corn stalks that are waist high or, at best, chest high. They are pale in color and spindly. Fragile. Tired.

Pull back an ear's husk and you find no kernels, he says. With temperatures rising above 95 degrees, the pollen starts to die.

'It's emotionally draining,' he said. 'The crop got out of the ground very well. We were so optimistic. But maybe a few of us were counting our eggs before they were hatched.'

So is there any hope that things are going to turn around?

Unfortunately, things do not look promising right now. It is being projected that the Corn Belt will experience extremely high temperatures and very low rainfall all the way through mid-August. The following report comes from accuweather.com....

AccuWeather.com agricultural meteorologists are concerned that new and frequent waves of near-100-degree temperatures and stingy rainfall will further stress crops over Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska into mid-August.

When temperatures are very high and rainfall is very low, evaporation happens very rapidly. As accuweather.com notes, when the ground becomes very, very dry it can create a vicious cycle that feeds on itself....

Evaporation rates are very high into the first part of August. Soaking rain on a regular basis instead of a brief downpour is needed to be of benefit beyond a couple of days.

Turning things around in the Midwest as a whole will be a difficult task as dry ground tends to bring higher daytime temperatures, which in turn raises evaporation rates and so on.

 So what does all of this mean for the rest of us?

It is going to mean higher food prices.

On Friday, the price of corn hit $7.50 a bushel.

It had been thought that the price of corn would only be about $5.00 a bushel this year.

At this point, the price of corn is up 48 percent since mid-June, and it could go a whole lot higher.

Some analysts are projecting that if this endless drought persists, we could see ten dollars for a bushel of corn and 20 dollars for a bushel of soybeans.

And yes, you will notice this at the supermarket.

In a previous article, I included a quote from a recent article by Holly Deyo about why the price of corn affects the price of so many other products....

Since 75% of grocery store products use corn as a key ingredient, expect food prices to skyrocket. Corn is also a staple in many fast foods. Corn is in ethanol and the main food source or chickens. In addition to this, maize is in many things that aren't obvious like adhesives, aluminum, aspirin, clothing starch, cosmetics, cough syrup, dry cell batteries, envelopes, fiberglass insulation, gelatin capsules, ink, insecticides, paint, penicillin, powders, rugs and carpets, stamps, talcum, toothpaste, wallpaper, and vitamins. That's just for starters...

This is a huge heads up for you to purchase corn-using products NOW before these conditions reflect in grocery goods. It will be a narrow window of opportunity.

This endless drought is also a complete and total nightmare for ranchers.

At this point, approximately 50 percent of America's pastures and ranges are in "poor" or "very poor" condition.

Back in June, that figure was only sitting at 28 percent.

So things have gotten a lot worse very quickly.

A lot of ranchers are selling off their cattle because this drought is making it very difficult to continue to feed them.

The following is from examiner.com....

Rauhn Panting, with the University of Idaho, who works with ranchers and farmers, says, 'We're going to run out of grass. It's going to be scary.' Ranchers are being advised to vacate grazing lands, weeks and even months before when they usually have to leave.

Left with only two choices, feed or sell, many are opting to sell their cattle. The Torrington Stock Market in Wyoming, has recorded that 36,000 cattle were sold in May and June of this year. The usual average for these months is 5,500. Small ranchers, with 30-50 cow/calf pairs, are being hit the hardest.

So expect higher meat prices in the fall and winter as well.

This all comes at a really bad time. We are already on the verge of a global financial catastrophe. Agriculture was supposed to be one of the few bright spots in the U.S. economy.

Sadly, the U.S. is not the only one having problems with crops this year.

For example, in Germany farmers are actually experiencing a full-blown plague of rats.

Yes, seriously.

The following is from a recent Der Spiegel article....

Millions of field mice are overrunning the central German states of Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, much to the concern of local farmers. The rodents are devastating food crops, cutting yields by up to 50 percent. Getting birds of prey to hunt the critters didn't help, and now farmers want to be allowed to use a banned rat poison.

So why is all of this happening?

Why is nature going crazy all of a sudden?Hmmm........If you can control the Climate you can wage war on the whole world, Wake up people the 'Big One' is coming.Read the full story here.