About the South Dakota ranchers who lost cattle in last week's blizzard -

[hedgehog]

just because something has always been done a certain way, is that an excuse to continue?

If a dairyman in New York failed to provide proper shelter for his animals, he'd end up in jail. So why are cattle in the West not provided with any shelter when blizzards occur with some frequency?



I have no problem whatsoever with some kind of government aid/loans to assist ranchers in constructing shelters.

[Ptah]

1. It was a very unusual, early winter storm.

[OmahaBlueDog]

2. Because typically 1-4' blizzards don't come in early October

So at this point in the year, the cattle in that part of the workd are still in pasture eating summer grass. I posted an article on this elsewhere. Usually by about now, the cattle at market weight would be sent to slaughter, and the calves and younger cattle would be put into pens for winter. Just like in Eastern nebraska -- at this point, lots of cattle are out grazing corn stubble in newly harvested fields.

This early October snow was an unusual weather event.

[TwilightGardener]

3. I used to live in western SD, the ranchers usually move their herds to more sheltered areas

for the winter--they just got caught too early. And the cattle hadn't developed their winter "coats" yet. But even sheltered areas get drifted over when there's three or more feet of snow and strong winds. It's just harsh country, few places to hide. There are no trees, except in creek and river bottoms. Thousands of square miles of NO TREES.

[haikugal]

4. We had an October snow storm

here a few years back and it did a lot of damage....I feel for these ranchers and their animals. Terrible loss...

[OmahaBlueDog]

5. ..and another thing

Ranching cattle that are going to end up as food is completely different than dairying. In dairying, the cows are frequently moved in and out of the milking parlor unless they are sick or calving. Dairies are almost all sheltered environments.

In some places (parts of Europe), cattle confinements are used. However, that works exactly like hog confinements; the cattle are in buildings; they stand on concrete slats that allow manure and urine to fall or be rinsed through, and they are crowded in areas where they scarcely move. It's efficient, and cuts losses due to disease and weather, but it's also not how I want my beef raised. JMHO YMMV

[kestrel91316]

6. Blizzards do not occur there this time of year with any regularity at all. They normally do

bring their cattle in off the open range during the harshest months, but this storm was so early and so unexpected that they didn't have the advance notice or time to do that.

Which you would know if you had bothered to do the slightest bit of research before flapping your lips.

Where would you PUT cattle shelters ON THE OPEN RANGE?? ROFL. You know nothing about ranching. Leave this stuff to the pros. They DO care about their livestock, not just as how they earn their living, but as living creatures. They are heartbroken about this.

[hedgehog]

7. Thank you all for explaining the situation.