Heat stress killing cattle.
(www.dtnpf.com)
Comments (21)
sorted by:
Just another cog in the wheel of manufactured food crisis.
The Great Reset
95 is not hot enough. I ran XC at 109 with a heat index of 118. Out in the cattle land. Moooo. In Kansas. 103 is hot. 95 is just really warm.
10,000 cattle out of an annual production of 98 Million is not a cowtastrophe!
Been by the feed pins bunches of times when I lived in Kansas! They usually have sprinklers going to keep the cattle cooler!
^ THIS
A small investment in infrastructure and irrigation can mean lots of profit in terms of feed - weight gain ratio.
So, I actually have experience with this. Where I am at in East Texas, temperatures can get well over 100 F and humidity is always high.
What I do to help my cows deal with the heat is provide them woods they can go to during the heat of the day. I also provide them plenty of fresh water.
If this weren't enough, there are tools I can use if needed. I can setup shade areas with shade cloth or tarp. I can install misters to spray the cows with a fine mist.
Cows do just fine in the heat. 95 is hot, but it is not deadly heat, even with high humidity. When it creeps up over 100, that's when we start really worrying if the heat will get to them. But from what I can tell, they do just fine, even in high humidity above 100 F.
Note also I keep my cows on pasture. I do not let them eat the grass down to the ground -- I move them twice a day into near areas. Having grass and ground cover means the ground is always cool, and the cows will lay down when they are too hot to soak up some of the coolness of the ground under them.
Also note: On the highest humidity days, even though temperatures at night won't fall much below 80, you'll see some condensation, dew, on the grass. I have gone out on the early morning on the hottest days of summer and gotten soaked with the dew on my pants and boots. So high humidity is also a blessing. I am told that some areas of coastal Oregon can grow 100 bushel / acre of wheat with no irrigation and no rainfall -- the dew is enough to water their fields.
If the feedlots are losing cattle to the heat, it's probably because they took a gamble, didn't provide adequate space or shade, or weren't using misters. They know what they are doing, and they have to live with the results. Every pound of gain counts, and every animal that falls is a huge loss for them. We know that if we want to optimize our feed-weight gain ratio, we need to keep the cows cool and calm.
Good info.
The picture looks like a feedlot. I wonder if a feedlot received the cattle that had been eating grass, and switched them to a high grain diet, and either it was not a good mix for these cattle, or the switch was too quick.
That, or from one type of grain mix to a different one that was supposed to fatten them up faster.
These look like black angus. Every breed handles these things differently, including the heat. Could be a dumb move by the feedlot, or could be foul play.
What's your take on that? You have experience that most of us around here do not.
No, if I were selling to a feedlot I'd have to get my calves used to eating feed, weaned, vaccinated, etc... Our sale barn even mandates preg checking at a certain age, because if the heifers are pregnant, they can't be on a feedlot.
If you want a good heat tolerant breed, pretty much anything we grow here in East Texas will do well.
It's actually more about where the calves were raised. If they come from the north to the south, they don't do so well in the heat, and I hear if they go north from the south, they don't do so well in the cold.
It's possible the feedlot owner messed up and didn't provide adequate shade or whatnot. It's possible he bought some calves from the north and brought them south. Maybe he was taking a gamble to try and eke out some more profit given the strange market conditions.
Tks cowboy, Informative post, what breed of bovine do you raise? CAFO (confined animal feeding operation) has always been the most unhealthy and stressful on the stock, however cheap or productive it may be.
I've got black angus crosses (various kinds) and longhorns. I'm learning how to keep them alive right now.
I plan on acquiring some registered angus, crossing them with wagyu, and making Texas Wagyu. I also want to experiment with Brangus -- brahman angus crosses. I am told they make the best steaks. But really, I want to see what i can do on grass alone. Rain + sun + cows = more grass.
As you know certain breeds are much more heat tolerant than others.
Brahmans are well suited to high humidity high heat. Many a herds in south Louisiana and Florida start there.
Sounds like you're tuned into rotational grazing polyface farms Joel Salatin style.
Salatin claims each cow drops about 40lb of fertilizer per day. That grows a lot of grass.
Most cowboys won't admit it, but they're all glorified grass farmers. What grows best in your part of the world?
Southeast Texas is pine country you don't struggle with soil ph?
East Texas is just before the foothills of the Ozarks.
Yes, I am doing Joel Salatin type stuff. After 1 year of rotational grazing, I already have the best pasture among my neighbors.
There are some native grasses that do best with the heat and humidity and climate. Unfortunately, most pastures, mine included, have been seeded with more "profitable" warm season grasses. I forget which kind I have, but I'd prefer the native grasses. I'm hoping I'll get some as the soil improves.
I had somewhat low pH in my soil when I first got it. I spread the recommended amount of lime. I think there has been a good improvement. I am told that as the earthworms do their business the pH will improve. I seeded clovers last year and we saw a lot this year, and clovers don't do too well in low pH so I think my soil is getting better.
Never ceases to amaze me how fields can spontaneous change when soil composition is changed.
"Plant Psychology" is so cool, to manipulate them into constantly being in the folage production state, Joel's little secret.
Sounds like you've got a great plan, good luck.
Tks for sharing your expertise.
Happy trails, Cowboy
I heard a radio segment back in the day about how blocking animal migration with roads and fences is messing with the natural fertilization processes
Sounds obvious enough, the great western plains, the African Serengeti, the steps of eastern europe, all thrived, supporting a abundance of life for thousands of years on the recycling of the grass.
Absence the migratorial animals, the wrong kind of soil microbiology takes over. It's a fact often over looked, how the great plains and forest of the world managed so much better before the stewardship of industrialized agriculture.
Try that he may, man will never improve upon what god has already perfected.
Wow, they’re getting a double whammy on this one! This feeds both the manufactured food crisis as well as the global warming crisis narrative,
I'm betting these cows were murdered, seriously. F'ing Demonic Democrats.
Remember the green new deal? They wanted us to stop eating beef.
They wanted us to drive electric cars. No fossil fuels or dirty coal.
They wanted community ownership and housing is becoming less and less attainable as foreigners buy our land and housing.
They wanted job guarantees and now employers are begging people to work.
It sure seems like they're forcing their will on us and making it look like it was a crisis. But, was it planned?
Saw a Twitter post earlier today where it's reported that a farmer said it wasn't heat that killed his cattle, but there was no other comment and there wasn't enough info to verify its accuracy.
Also saw this article: Thousands of Cattle Reported Dead Heat Stress Kills Estimated 10,000 Head of Kansas Feedlot Cattle
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2022/06/14/heat-stress-kills-estimated-10-000
DEW use?
Never heard of it before with current temps. From cattle country.
Sounds like a job for Animal control to look into abuse.