Home News Kansas Heat Wave Kills Around 2000 Cattle

Kansas Heat Wave Kills Around 2000 Cattle [ Report ]

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Kansas Heat Wave Kills Around 2000 Cattle: The deaths add to the industry’s woes, which have already seen producers cut herds due to drought and deal with rising feed costs as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine squeezed global grain supplies.

Around 2000 Cattle died in Kansas

Thousands of cattle have died in Kansas due to extreme heat and humidity in recent days, according to the state, and the state’s livestock is still at risk.

The deaths add to the industry’s woes, which have already seen producers cut herds due to drought and deal with rising feed costs as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine squeezed global grain supplies.

As of Tuesday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has received reports of at least 2,000 cow deaths as a result of the high temperatures and humidity, according to spokesperson Matthew Lara.

According to him, the figure shows the number of establishments that approached the agency for assistance in disposing of carcasses.

With almost 2.4 million cattle in feedlots, Kansas is the third largest cattle state in the United States, after Texas and Nebraska.

Kansas Heat Wave

Temperatures and humidity in western Kansas soared over the weekend, and cooling winds vanished, causing heat stress in cattle, according to Scarlett Hagins, a spokesperson for the Kansas Livestock Association.

She claimed that the animals were unable to adjust to the abrupt change.

“It was practically a perfect storm,” said AJ Tarpoff, a Kansas State University cattle extension veterinarian.

According to Drew Lerner, president of World Weather Inc., temperatures in northwest Kansas hit 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius) on Monday.

Parts of western Kansas and the Texas panhandle will have temperatures near 110 degrees this weekend, but stronger winds and lower humidity levels will help cow mortality be minimized, he added.

“For the animals, it’ll be oppressively hot and stressful,” Lerner predicted.

Ranchers are supplying extra water to animals and monitoring their health in order to survive.

“You can’t just say, ‘Oh, I checked them three days ago,'” said Brenda Masek, president of the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Association. “When the weather becomes hot, you have to be out there every day ensuring sure their water is maintained.”

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