BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) – Thousands of cattle in fattening parks in southwest Kansas have died in heat stress in recent days due to rising temperatures, high humidity and low winds in recent days , said industry officials.
The final number is still unclear, but as of Thursday, at least 2,000 heat-related deaths had been reported to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the state agency that helps remove the canals. Agency spokesman Matt Lara said he expects that figure to rise as more wind farms report losses from this week’s heat wave.
Cattle deaths have caused unfounded reports on social media and elsewhere that there is something beyond the time at stake, but Kansas agriculture officials said there is no indication of any other cause.
“This was a real weather event: it was isolated in a specific area of southwestern Kansas,” said AJ Tarpoff, a cattle veterinarian at Kansas State University. “Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either. West Kansas. “
Last week, temperatures were in the 70s and 80s, but on Saturday they exceeded 100 degrees, said Scarlett Hagins, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Livestock Association.
“And it was this sudden change that didn’t allow the cattle to acclimatize that caused heat stress issues,” he said.
The deaths represent a huge economic loss because the animals, which typically weigh about 1,500 pounds, are worth about $ 2,000 per head, Hagins said. Federal disaster programs will help some producers who have suffered losses, he added.
And the worst may have happened. Night temperatures have been cooler, and as long as there is a breeze, the animals can recover, Tarpoff said.
Hagins said heat-related deaths in the industry are rare because farmers are taking precautions such as providing extra drinking water, altering feeding schedules so animals will not digest during the heat of the day, and using sprinkler systems to cool them.
“Heat stress is always a concern at this time of year for livestock and therefore they have mitigation protocols in place to be prepared for this kind of thing,” he said.
Many cattle had not yet left their winter coats when the heat wave occurred.
“This is a typical event every 10 years and 20 years. This is not a normal event,” said Brandon Depenbusch, an innovative livestock services fattening park operator in Great Bend, Kansas. “It’s extremely abnormal, but it happens.”
Although his food park had “zero problems”, he noted that his part of the state did not have the same combination of high temperatures, high humidity, low winds and no cloud cover that affected the south. West Kansas.
Elsewhere, farmers have not been so affected.
The Nebraska Department of Agriculture and the Nebraska Cattlemen said they have not received any reports of livestock deaths higher than normal in the state, despite a heat index of more than 100 degrees this week.
Oklahoma City National Park President Kelli Payne said no cattle deaths have been reported since temperatures topped 90 degrees last Saturday, after rising since the mid-1970s. ‘June 1st.
“We have water and sprinklers here to help mitigate the heat and heat wave,” Payne said, but “we have no control over this annoying Mother Nature.”