'Shutdown worsens historic blizzard that killed tens of thousands of South Dakota cattle'

[KoKo]

(Not that I have much sympathy for Big Business Ranchers... and not all are Big Business but, this is Devastating and tragic)



Shutdown worsens historic blizzard that killed tens of thousands of South Dakota cattle
By M. Alex Johnson, Staff Writer, NBC News

An unusually early and enormous snowstorm over the weekend caught South Dakota ranchers and farmers unprepared, killing tens of thousands of cattle and ravaging the state's $7 billion industry — an industry left without assistance because of the federal government shutdown.

As many as 75,000 cattle have perished since the storm slammed the western part of the state Thursday through Saturday with snowfall that set records for the entire month of October in just three days, state and industry officials said.

Across the state, snow totals averaged 30 inches, with some isolated areas recording almost 5 feet, The Weather Channel reported.

The South Dakota Stock Growers Association estimated that 15 percent to 20 percent of all cattle were killed in some parts of the state. Some ranchers reported that they lost half or more of their herds.

The storm was accompanied by hurricane-force wind gusts, especially Friday night, which drove some herds seeking shelter miles from their ranches. A trail of carcasses left a gruesome sight, said Martha Wierzbicki, emergency management director for Butte County, in the northwestern corner of the state.

Parts of South Dakota are in cleanup mode after a strong winter storm pounded some areas. Kirsten Swanson of NBC station KNBN reports.
"They're in the fence line, laying alongside the roads," Wierzbicki told The Rapid City Journal. "It's really sickening.

Ranchers have no one to ask for help or reimbursement. That's because Congress has yet to pass a new farm bill, which subsidizes agricultural producers.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/08/20876196-shutdown-worsens-historic-blizzard-that-killed-tens-of-thousands-of-south-dakota-cattle

[hobbit709]

1. Maybe the people of SD should have a little discussion with their Congresscritter.

[KoKo]

3. True... I was more concerned about the death of all the cattle

which is devastating enough...and this will affect our economy down the road. If it's beef prices, milk prices (if some are used for dairy).

Bad situation all over...and the Ranchers were treated well by the Repugs. Hopefully this will cause pressure on their Congresscritters.

[Xipe Totec]

8. Congresscritter - There's only one in each Dakota

There are two senators but only one congress member in each of the Dakotas.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

13. That's right,

and she's pretty much the reason why they don't have a farm bill.

[Berlum]

48. That'd be Mrs. Kristi 'NoClue' Noem (R - RepubliBagger FAIL Freak)

Pulling a typical dark-side 'Republican' on America

[notadmblnd]

61. but why is she wearing a dead squirrel on her head?

[Berlum]

64. No Clue about Noem

No Clue Noem.

[KamaAina]

67. In solidarity with Rand Paul.

[Uncle Joe]

20. The political ripple effect will be wider as other states in the region see and hear what happened

to South Dakota's ranchers and the repercussions of the government being shut down.

[questionseverything]

28. milk prices will double in january

because there is no farm bill

and in illinois corn/beans went in so late because of the wet weather...the stalks look spindly,ears small and they are picking while only 40% dry...which should drive up the price of corn which drives up price of beef

and china just bought the largest hog producer
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/chinese-get-ok-buy-american-pork-producer-4B11243408

we are so screwed

[Comrade Grumpy]

31. The Teabagger cow queen? Let's just replace her.

US Rep. Kristi Noem (R) is a Miller-area cattle rancher. They didn't get the big snow there.

[L0oniX]

2. Buy your steak now before someone makes money from this disaster.

[KoKo]

4. Fast Food Restaurants going to have some price jacks or switch to all chicken...

The rest of us will get used to beans and rice as the steady diet.

[Myrina]

43. You assume fast food restaurants use real beef?

[Buddaman]

5. That hits the ranchers right in the pocketbook..........

our pocketbooks will most likely feel a little lighter also....The hits just keep on comin'

[catnhatnh]

6. Perspective

2012 figures show US cattle herd at 89 million head with sales of 43.4 billion lbs of beef.
http://www.beefusa.org/beefindustrystatistics.aspx

Remember these numbers when the phony beef price spike hits.

[KoKo]

9. We export though...plus don't know if SD Cattle were for Dairy or Beef..

Either way it will hurt our economy through less available export product for Beef products or if part of herd is dairy...then affect here at home both ways.

2012 beef exports: $5.51 billion (up 2% from 2011), 1.13 million metric tons (USMEF)

Top export markets: Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Hong Kong

- See more at: http://www.beefusa.org/beefindustrystatistics.aspx#sthash.rHjYioQC.dpuf

[Boudica the Lyoness]

36. I'd be willing to bet they were not dairy cows.

Dairy cows are kept close to the milk parlor and sometimes never see pasture. Range cattle know when bad weather is coming and will walk for miles to find a more sheltered spot.

[newfie11]

56. I don't know of any dairy in west river SD

If there are any I would bet they would be closer the east river area.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

7. Aren't disaster relief bills separate appropriations?

I mean, we don't have a full-time Dept. of Frozen Cows, do we?

Do we?

[DevonRex]

30. Well, kinda. Dept of Agriculture is who they have

to deal with, just like over here in Colorado. The flooded farms here can't have their claims processed either. For them it's the Dept Of Useless Mud.

[geek tragedy]

10. I feel bad for the cattle, but screw the farmers and ranchers.

They're getting the government response they voted for.

Karma.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

39. Gee thanks...

and if we're Democrats, do you still want to see us screwed?

[newfie11]

57. Apparently the country thinks all farmers/ranchers are repugs

And it sucks ( from a DEMOCRATIC FARMER)

[KoKo]

11. Hey...How will this have and effect on FOOTBALL SEASON?

It will Filter Down...

[Sissyk]

44. What?

Cows play football?

More cow hide to make footballs?

[Arugula Latte]

12. I hate how these poor cattle are kept in these conditions.

Last edited Wed Oct 9, 2013, 09:13 PM - Edit history (1)

Poor domestic animals put out on the freezing plains to die -- horribly cruel.

I'm not surprised you think I'm being sarcastic because there are lots of assholes who don't care at all about the abuse of animals in our "food system."

[KoKo]

15. are you being Sarcastic...or are you just one of those who

love to TRASH...the "Animal Worshipers" here on DU...as foolish idiots.

I'm wondering?

[Arugula Latte]

16. No I'm sincere.

Seriously, these poor animals didn't evolve to live on the hellhole open plains of the Dakotas to die of exposure. It sickens me to think about how we treat cows and pigs in this country.

[KoKo]

19. Thanks...nuff said... n/t

[moriah]

23. Since you're disclaiming trolling... their ancestors did.

Now admittedly our choices of how we've bred cattle have made them quite different from the original aurochs, but those guys survived the ice age.

I'm sure that other things we do to them don't help their survival in the winter, either. But with cows being grazers, they probably are better able to survive in plains/grasslands in any season than they could in areas without as much fodder.

[truebluegreen]

29. There isn't a lot of fodder in North and South Dakota.

Not a heck of a lot of cattle either; it is sheep country (in many ways even worse suited). Severe weather aside, it is too dry. Out there the rule of thumb is not "cows per acre", it is "acres per cow" and in western South Dakota the answer for a mother/calf combination is about 20. That number goes down if you go east, and up if you go west.

It'd be better to just give it back to the buffalo.

[newfie11]

58. WHAT!!!

Are you kidding me???
Have you been to SD?
Yes when there is a drought the grass I sparse and cattle get sold off but western SD in grassland.
Remember buffalo???

[truebluegreen]

60. Yeah I have been to SD, and that grassland is WAY more fragile than you think.

The myth that the West is cattle country is bunk, our national infatuation for cowboys aside. Only way it works is with the help of the Bureau of Reclamation and federal grazing subsidies for our fiercely independent welfare ranchers.

Buffalo would be better. As I said.

[newfie11]

62. I have lived 15 years west river

Been gone 7 yrs in Nebraska Panhandle.
I am curious where you feel cattle should live?
If their in the south west there's no grass, south east many problems with insects, worms, stress due to heat and of course always possible tornadoes. North East also gets cold, has blizzards. North West you have the same problems with lots of snow.

This was not a storm that is common. I have lived in the area a total of 25 years and this would be the second one.

But I guess you know more than I since you've been to SD ( how long?)

[truebluegreen]

65. OK, you are right. Very little experience in SD.

But one side of the family had a ranch in Wyoming, and the other side in Montana. 3+ generations. My issue was not this particular storm (as should have been evident from my posts) but the unsuitability of this area for cattle, absent government support...or with climate change, maybe at all.

West of the 100th meridian? Buffalo and wide open range.

[newfie11]

68. Very little experience in SD

Says it all

[truebluegreen]

69. OK. Since you have so much, pray educate me.

Do you run cattle in SD? On your own land? How many acres per cow do you require? Do you use government land for any part of the year? How about leasing private land? What are the grazing fees for both? Do you have to buy fodder? Where do you get your water? What are your losses due to extreme weather on a yearly basis? What about losses from predators?

Do tell.

[Arugula Latte]

38. Buffalo evolved to live on the plains. These cattle didn't.

[moriah]

49. Aurochs aren't buffalo.

Aurochs were the European cattle that had a range all the way across the Eurasian continent. The ice-age survivors that our modern domesticated cattle are descended from. It was hunting that killed off indigenous populations, not as much weather conditions in Europe or northern Asia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs

Now, as I said, a lot of things we do change the ability to survive Ice-age conditions -- such as breeding programs we've introduced, not letting the herds migrate like they would in nature, etc. And I'm sure that antibiotics/growth hormones and other things we give them increase their energy requirements and make it harder to survive in colder weather with what fodder there is covered in snow.

But European Bison and aurochs were competitors for the same grasslands and plains in the time they evolved to survive severe conditions. I don't know if captive-bred American buffalo populations suffer the same degradations to their overall survival ability, it'd be interesting to find out. I suspect they do.

(Final edit, so this doesn't go back and forth forever like it might -- you said they didn't "evolve" to handle those conditions. Evolution made our cattle's ancestors mighty survivors. It's the exact opposite of evolution, our stupid breeding programs and the other ways we harm a breed's survival traits by domestication and "management", that made them unable to survive like their ancestors did. We've weakened them.)

[A HERETIC I AM]

21. Well what are they supposed to do?

Put them up at the Holiday Inn?

They're cattle, for fucks sake.

[Arugula Latte]

37. Don't raise them in that environment.

I have very little sympathy for cattle ranchers.

[A HERETIC I AM]

40. Well, just for a little historical perspective....

The raising of beef cattle in this country has its roots in Florida, not Texas or anywhere else, but Florida has occasional hurricanes, and they kill cattle too.

[newfie11]

59. So do you want them raised in small pens

The ranches are hundreds to thousands of acres.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

41. This is very unusual weather

I think the cattle were still out on pasture and hadn't been brought in to start being fed hay. In the colder months the cattle are brought in close, for feeding, shelter and calving. It sounds like the weather was sudden and unexpected. Ranchers have everything tied up in their cattle, and do their best to keep them healthy. It's not in the ranchers best interest to put their cattle "out on the freezing plains to die".

[Arugula Latte]

42. Every winter I read about thousands of cattle freezing to death somewhere on the plains.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

50. Do you have some links I could look at?

Thanks.

[Arugula Latte]

54. Here are a few of the ones with higher death tolls:

http://amarillo.com/stories/040209/new_news1.shtml

http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news/Cattle-killer-blizzard-blitzes-Texas-Panhandle-193182671.html

http://www.iowafarmertoday.com/news/regional/weather-kills-north-dakota-cattle/article_f1a12bb9-961f-52e5-b660-2d6a85b806f2.html

This article mentions 30,000 dying on the plains of Colorado in 1997: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/weather/stormcenter/2007-01-02-plains-blizzard_x.htm

http://www.weathergizmo.com/historic-minnesota-blizzards/ (15,000 cows dead in 1975)

[randome]

14. Who gives a fuck? They're just people!

[hr][font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font][hr]

[KoKo]

18. But...According to "Some" we Dem Left are "Overly Concerned with our Pets!"

The RW thinks that ANIMALS and HUMANS are SUBJECT to the ARMAGEDDON...where we will all be Held "Accountable."

I have a RW Relative who wants his Hound Dogs to GO DOWN with HIM to be buried in his Grave in the Family Plot...because they HUNT BIRDS and he identifies with BIRD EMPIRE...because he watches the Duck Dynasty and rides a Bike to Myrtle Beach to Commune.

Hey...not trashing him...but, one can see the DIVIDE...we need to CROSS.

I try to "Channel in Thinking" ...Joe Bageant and "Deer Hunting for Jesus" when I don't freak out over all of this.

We are in HARD TIMES...!

[randome]

27. Economy trumps all, of course.

Conservatives could 'win' on any number of issues if they simply stopped drooling over money.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font][hr]

[kentuck]

17. That is so sad...

I believe in signs. I think this is one. Call me superstitious.

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Won't call you supersititious,

just interested in the meaning of this. I have heard this from a couple of very religious folks locally regarding our unusual storms in Sept.

If you prefer the PM, I fully understand, and you are welcomed by the way.

[kentuck]

24. Environmental change...

We could be in store for a very bad winter? This is very early for such a blizzard.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. Yes, that none will tell you otherwise

the energy is higher and more active weather is expected.

Our fire season started very early, like three months early. Right now we are living through our first winter storm, two months early.

[frogmarch]

25. Horrible conditions in Rapid City and Sturgis,and also

here in the Nebraska panhandle. Just in my area alone as many as 3,000 cattle perished. When the highways were cleared, there were carcasses all over. Our landfill can’t handle tree branches because it's full of dead cattle. Rendering plants are going to pick up some of them. Ranchers are now being advised to bury their cattle where they dropped.

[KoKo]

32. Thank You for posting this from where you are..It seems devastating...and

its the Animals...that's so distressing to me. The article talked about the danger of disease that meant that the disposal would be overwhelming because of the danger of disease to the population and the cattle remaining.

It's a terrible tragedy...

Ranchers or Not....it's not a good thing going foward...for the economy ...but, basically for the cattle that died in that way.

[frogmarch]

35. It is awful, and it's not just what

happened to all those poor cattle that gets to me. Other animals died too.

A rancher friend of mine and her husband were about 5 miles from home rounding up their range herds to move them to shelter when they saw smoke coming from the direction of their house. By the time they got there, their house was totally consumed by fire, along with everything in it. The house had been built by my friend's great-grandfather 150+ years ago and in it were many family heirlooms and antiques. She said she and her husband can handle that loss because their beloved dogs weren't in the house when it burned, but with them, rounding up cows. As far as they know, they didn't lose any cattle.

I'm a vegetarian and I try to ease my mind by reminding myself that the cattle would have been butchered anyway, but I still feel very bad about what happened to them, and I feel bad for the ranchers too.

[lonestarnot]

33. Stinks there or is it cold enough to keep the stink down? Could take a while to bury all of them.

[frogmarch]

34. No, temps climbed after the blizzard

and it's been in the high 60s and low 70s the past couple of days. I haven't noticed any smell.

Since our town landfill is closed now, I think some carcasses are being taken to a landfill about 15 miles from here.

http://chadrad.com/newsstory.cfm?story=31344

[tsuki]

45. I went to Thune's website. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, blah, blah, blah,

translation...here's the bootstraps you voted for.

[Rectangle]

46. Let me guess-- It's Obama's fault!!!! n/t

[deutsey]

47. Nice going, dumb ass Tea Baggers n/t

[Dawson Leery]

51. Karma?

Sorry for the cows, not for the ranchers(mostly right wing teakooks).
Humans should not be eating red meat to start with. Too much fat and too hard to process.

[DURHAM D]

52. This story is misleading.

I believe that the old farm bill is still in effect re: reimbursement rates, etc.

The problem is government shutdown meaning their claims can't be processed right now but they will get their money eventually.

They sent the Teabaggers to DC so I don't really feel sorry for them.

[jwirr]

53. I take it they did not have a storm warning?

[treestar]

55. That's a red state

They don't need the government. They think it's frightening when someone from the government arrives to say they intend to help. They were supposed to be prepared for something like this, as smart capitalists.

[FarCenter]

63. Help Line Available To Producers And Others Affected By Western S.D. Snow Storm

SOUTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
NEWS RELEASE

PIERRE, S.D. - Anyone impacted by the recent western South Dakota snow storm can call
2-1-1 or 877.708.4357 for any storm-related concerns.

Producers living in Harding, Perkins, Ziebach, Shannon, Jackson, Jones, Bennett and Mellette counties will need to call 877.708.4357 to reach the helpline.

The helpline can answer questions regarding animal removal from agricultural properties, documentation of livestock losses, livestock identification and provide contact information for other assistance programs.

Producers experiencing emotional distress can also call for support or to find counseling resources. Agencies needing volunteers and individuals interested in volunteering to help should dial 2-1-1 or call 877.708.4357 for assistance.

Agriculture is South Dakota's No. 1 industry, generating over $21 billion in annual economic activity and employing more than 122,000 South Dakotans. The South Dakota Department of Agriculture's mission is to promote, protect, preserve and improve this industry for today and tomorrow. Visit us online at http://sdda.sd.gov or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SDAgDept and Twitter @SDAgriculture.

http://news.sd.gov/newsitem.aspx?id=15272

[yawnmaster]

66. Were the weather control stations shut down???

That is a poorly thought out headline, in my opinion.