Snow Cattle

Unbelievable news out of South Dakota....

You hear it?

"Like in a scene from an apocalyptic parable, dark carcasses of cows and steers lie motionless in silent clusters across swaths of South Dakota."

Last weekend, a massive early blizzard rolled thru the upper midwest, hitting South Dakota especially hard.  The storm was much much larger and much more potent than most meteorologists and ranchers were expecting.

Many were caught with their "pants down".... their large herds out to pasture.... too far away to get rounded up in any type of quick fashion.

"We have misplaced cattle everywhere.  The storm blew them 10 miles or more from where they are normally pastured."

Complicating matters.....

"The worst thing is we had two inches of rain followed by three feet of snow afterwards, so not only was the ground wet, the cattle sunk into it.  Many of them actually drowned as the snow came over top, literally started burying them and crushing them and pushing them down into the wet soil underneath there."

And, since it's so early in the Fall, the cattle had not grown their winter coats, making them much more susceptible to moisture and winds.

Not just any winds..... 70 mile per hour winds.

And not just any moisture..... lots of rain (thoroughly soaking the cows), then 2-5 feet of snow.  

and severe drifting.

hypothermia killed many.

The result?

Once a final count is known, there may be as many as 75,000 cattle gone.

75,000 !!

Meaning fewer calves in the Spring.  So, this isn't just a "one and done" disaster.  The economic repurcussions will be felt for months.... years.

Lots of horse deaths too.

So what must be done with all the cattle carcasses?  Gotta get rid of them to prevent the spread of disease.  Not a fun -- or easy -- task....

"The state has issued ranchers a final, grim and expensive chore to take care of on top of their losses. They must dispose of the carcasses quickly, before they rot, and in accordance with regulations.  The ranchers can pay a factory to render them.  Or they can burn them themselves, or dig large pits at least four feet deep and bury them by the hundreds."

What a nightmare.

Out for now.....

Matt