Wednesday, July 25, 2007


Jul. 25, 2007 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
The death toll stood at more than 1,100 and continued to climb Tuesday for cattle killed by heat and humidity in northeast South Dakota alone, mainly on Monday afternoon.

Blizzards have killed thousands of area cattle at one crack. But this kind of a loss from a heat wave is unprecedented, at least for the past several decades, producers and ag officials said. The losses extend through central, north-central and northeast South Dakota, said Sam Holland, the state veterinarian.

'It had to be the humidity,' said John Braun of the Braun feedlot south of Warner.

The torrid weather killed 85 to 100 of the 4,500 head at that feedlot. Never before has the business suffered such a loss, Braun said.

The high on Monday in Aberdeen was 97. But the heat index, which is related to humidity, hit 106. On Tuesday, the high was 92 in Aberdeen, with a heat index of 100.

'It's a tough deal,' said feedlot operator Ivan Sjovall of rural Langford. 'We've lost more than a hundred, and there's going to be more.'

He, too, said his loss is unprecedented. Some of his cattle impaired by the sultry weather on Monday were down on the ground but still alive on Tuesday or staggering around, Sjovall said. He expected some of them to die.

Death reports that reached the American News late Monday and Tuesday include the following:

-- About 400 died at three feedlots in the Warner area, Braun said.

-- About 400 died in Spink County, mostly in five major feedlots, said Randy Maddox, the county's emergency management director.

'And I'm sure the number will go up,' he said.

-- At least 330 died in Marshall County, according to reports directly from producers who lost cattle, including Sjovall.

The number includes 120 that died at the Symens feedlot near Amherst, said Glen Aldentaler of that operation. The Claremont Volunteer Fire Department and the Newport Hutterite Colony helped hose down cattle at the Symens business on Monday, Aldentaler said.

Burying the 120 animals was like burying $150,000, he said. That would have been the market value of the animals, which divides out to $1,250 per head.

That's a loss of $1.25 million for every 1,000 that died. The losses evidently are not covered. Braun said his insurance adjuster told him Tuesday morning that he was not covered and that no insurance company offers coverage for loss of animals because of heat.

Ag officials in counties west of Brown County to the Missouri River said they heard no reports of losses. The federal Farm Service Agency in Day County said it had heard of no losses either.

Possible causes: State veterinarian Holland said he had no exact death numbers on Tuesday, only verbal reports.

'It sure appears to total well into the hundreds from what I have heard so far,' Holland said.

He speculated as to why hundreds died in this heat wave but not in others. It's probably because this one is prolonged with high humidity, Holland said.

Also, fat cattle on feed -- which, for the most part, are what died this week -- have difficulty with their body cooling systems because of their fat condition, he said.

Little to no wind could have been a factor in the deaths as well.

'There was just no air moving on Monday,' Sjovall said.

An abundance of flies this year may have played a role, too, Braun said. Even though his cattle have plenty of room in their feedlots to move around and separate from each other for optimal air flow, they huddled tightly together on Monday to protect themselves from flies, he said.

'That worked against them,' he said.

When they bunch together, animals must deal with each other's body heat as well as the heat in the atmosphere.

Heat stroke killed them, Braun said. An animal dying that way stands with its mouth wide open as if gasping for air, he said, and blood from the stroke begins to run from the nose shortly before the animal falls over and dies.

Relatively high temperatures during the nights might be another factor in the casualties as well because cattle bodies do not cool down as much as normal during the night, Holland said.

Hosing: Braun and others continued to hose down their herds on Tuesday as they had on Monday to dispel some of the heat.

'I'm just trying to keep them alive. That's all I'm trying to do,' Braun employee Jake McLeod said Tuesday afternoon as he sprayed water onto cattle from huge plastic bins mounted on a semi trailer.

The Langford Volunteer Fire Department was ready and willing to spray cattle again on Tuesday if needed, as they did Monday, said Fire Chief Monty Liknes.

Braun said his feedlot workers sprayed from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Monday and resumed spraying at 8 a.m. Tuesday, consuming about 175,000 gallons of water on Monday alone.

The cattle were considerably more comfortable Tuesday than Monday, Braun said.

'This wind is helping a lot,' he said.

But the cattle still relished the sprays, running toward them as McLeod moved the semi along the length of feedlots.

'They're like kids going through a sprinkler,' he said.

Holland said it is imperative to begin spraying in the morning before heat begins to stress animals. Waiting until cattle are suffering can be too late, he said.

More advice: Though Tuesday was more favorable for cattle, today might bring more threats of heat stress and death. The forecast for the Aberdeen area is a high of 99, a heat index of 108 and little breeze.

Holland suggested that operators of feedlots without shade install overhead netting in these lots to provide shade. But producers should be careful to install the netting so as not to inhibit air flow through the lot, he said.

An abundance of fresh, high-quality drinking water is also crucial to an animal's ability to fight off stress and exhaustion, Holland said.

'I am also extremely concerned with swine and poultry operations,' he said.

For those with confinement operations for such species, 'It is extremely important to monitor their electrical supply and their exhaust fans,' Holland said. 'It wouldn't take but a short time to cause a disaster there also.'

He has received no reports of farm animals other than cattle dying. Some of the cattle died in pastures, but most were in feedlots, he said.

As a safety measure, state inspectors are out in the field gathering blood and tissue samples from the dead animals, Holland said. The samples will be analyzed at labs at South Dakota State University in Brookings to determine if any of the animals died from anthrax or some other infectious disease.

Most likely, such diseases will be ruled out, Holland said.

'All the evidence we have so far indicates the deaths are heat related,' he said.

Holland also advised against trucking animals during heat waves. A Nebraska cattle buyer who made a purchase at the auction at the Aberdeen Livestock sale barn on Monday called Tuesday from Nebraska to report that none of the cattle trucked from Aberdeen to Nebraska died en route, said Lana Crawford of Aberdeen Livestock.

'He was so pleased,' Crawford said.

No cattle suffered heat stress at the sale barn on Monday, she said.

'We used a lot of sprinklers and a lot of water.'

Newstex ID: KRTB-0002-18394272


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