N.M. Cattlemen See Green--and Chance to Recoup Some Drought Losses

Billy Darnell sees an almost otherworldly color on his New Mexico ranch this spring day: green.

“I’m looking out now, and I can see some green grass in a flood plain and a lot of yuccas blooming. And they’re shining yellow in the sun,” he said.

New Mexico has been blessed with a wall-to-wall carpet of green--from Darnell’s spread near Animas in the far southwest to Bill Humphries’ ranch near Cuba in the northwest; from Twister Smith’s place around Truth or Consequences down south to David Drennan’s digs near Fort Sumner on the east side.

“This old country is rolling to open, most with a little gentle roll to it, and for six miles around, it’s green,” Drennan said of his 22,400-acre Lake Sumner Ranch, 20 miles northwest of Fort Sumner.

“It really does look pretty. All the little playas--the little lakes--have water in them. The grass is green; the cows are fat. It’s a lot more fun than it was last year,” he said.

Oh, there are a few brown spots on this carpet of grass, but nothing compared with the last three or four years, when brown was in and green was out.

“We had several years with no rain. You’d think the world was coming to an end the way it looked,” Smith said.

Now, drought is out--at least for now.

Cattle are fattening up; so are their market prices. Bud Keunstler, part-owner of Deming Livestock Market Inc., said cattle numbers are short, so prices for them are up--in some cases, twice as high as last year.

Recent rainfall, and the grass it has nurtured, has been the saving grace for many ranchers, he said.

“It’s not unusual for the usual typical year, but for the last three years, we have been in a drought, so they are a lot better off than they have been for the last few years,” Keunstler said.

“It’s probably as good as it’s been in 30 years, or it is as good as it was bad last year, and that’s how bad it was,” said Humphries, who has a ranch about 30 miles northwest of Cuba.

But as good as it is, Humphries and his fellow ranchers know that what Mother Nature gives, she can just as easily take.

The drought forced ranchers to pare their herds, and the glut of cattle on the market caused prices to slump. Feed prices soared as demand outstripped supply.

Ranchers are now warily beginning to rebuild herds--and that will take time and money.

“We got down to under 100 [head] about a year and a half ago,” Smith said at his 12,800-acre Smith Ranch, five miles south of Truth or Consequences. “It got terrible, and all you could do was sell off. You really had no other choice.”

“In a good year, you can sell a calf for $400,” he said. “Producing it costs at least $250.”

Lovington Livestock Inc. reported that a 300-pound male calf auctioned off this month went for $312, up from $156 a year ago.

Now, Smith runs about 200 head--could run 230, depending on available grass on his desert land.

Drennan said he normally runs 500 mother cows year-round, splicing in 400 yearlings for three to five months during growing season.

But he pruned his herd to 260 cows last year. Now, he has 300 head.

“It’ll take another four to five years to get our mother-cow herd to where it was,” Drennan said.

Humphries said he was forced to sell almost all of his cow inventory in the last 1 1/2 years, and he just started buying back calves last fall.

“For all practical purposes, we sold out just to get out of the drought conditions, but so did a lot of people in this general area because it got so dry,” he said.

Darnell had to move his 240 head off his 18,000-acre Rancho Darnell, five miles south of Animas, and onto leased land, where there was grass.

He is letting his ranch recuperate, while his cattle graze on the leased land.

“This country can sometimes be unforgiving. You have to make an adjustment to it. But I don’t have all the answers,” Darnell said.

Tom Bess, whose 10,880-acre ranch sits 10 miles northeast of Tatum in southeastern New Mexico, said his range land is in excellent condition.

“It’s green,” he said, “and I think everyone has had rain over southeastern New Mexico that I know about.”

He said he has about 350 head of cattle, up from 250 or so during the worst of the drought. He had to pay for supplemental feeding from November 1993 until last August.

“These droughts sure take a toll,” Bess said. “It takes about three years to catch back up after spending all this to feed cattle.”

John Yarbrough, who runs cattle on 16,000 acres south of Hillsboro in southwestern New Mexico, said he has a tinge of green on his land interspersed with brown.

“But we’re batting 1,000, though, because this time last year, we didn’t have any moisture at all,” he said. “It’s just starting out to be a wonderful year, so far.”