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Port Williams farmer gets rid of 75 cattle following drought

October normally means a barn full of hay on Stephen Rand's farm in Port Williams, N.S., but this fall it's only half full following this year's drought.

It means his beef cattle are feeling the pinch. He said he's already cut his herd from 120 cows down to 45, and more will soon be out the door.

"Some of the animals we won't be keeping," Rand said Friday. "The older cows will have to go probably. And then we're into the position where we start rebuilding again in another year."

The remaining cattle are "on a diet," he said, and it "will be very interesting" to see how many are left by spring.

Aside from the hay, there's also less silage and the grass isn't growing as well.

'It's going to be rough'

Rand and his wife are trying to find enough feed for their remaining cattle, but they can't afford to have it shipped in from elsewhere.

"There's not going to be anything thrown out of the manger, I'll put it that way," Rand said. "They'll have to eat it or go without."

It's a big setback for Rand, 65, who's been trying to build back his herd after similar drought issues in the past.

Typically, many of his young cows are sold off in the spring while the older ones remain. Some of his older stock have been around for 10 to 12 years.

Rand and his wife will have to soon decide which to keep, and which to ship to auction or the slaughterhouse, so the hay can be used to feed the rest of the herd through to spring.

Troubles with squash

Cattle is not the only problem for Rand.

He and his wife sat at their kitchen table on Friday peeling squash. The crop was hit this year by pests.

"This is a new bug. It's a squash bug, not a beetle bug. It stings the vines and it puts, according to our specialist up here at the agricultural centre, it puts a disease in that vine and ... attacks the inside of the squash as it's growing," said Rand.

"Usually we have tremendous brown squash. This year we have to pick through them. You can't tell what's there until you cut them open."

The squash brings in $500 a week, which "is a lot of money right now to us," he said. Rand estimates that two thirds of his crop have been infected.

"Squash is our second income. It's been a double hit. First we have drought and then we have a lack of hay and now the squash with this bug. It's a double hit," he said.