Major Snowstorm to Hit U.S. Cattle Herds at Worst Possible Time

[Purveyor]

March 29, 2016 — 5:00 AM EDT

Snow is on the way for Wyoming, and it’s coming at the wrong time of year for ranchers.

The hardest-hit areas will get as much as 20 inches (51 centimeters), said Chris Hattings, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Riverton, Wyoming. Casper could get 18 inches before the storm ends Wednesday. Blizzard watches were posted for several counties in the central and eastern parts of the state.

“In the higher elevations, way, way up there where nobody lives, some areas could see as much as three feet,” Hattings said.

While not unusual, the snow is coming at a particularly bad time for farmers because newborn calves are vulnerable to the cold and deep snow, the weather service said. Although Wyoming will take the brunt of the system, parts of Montana and South Dakota could end up with six inches or more.

The risks for the calves will continue right through Wednesday. The weather service is also warning drivers that mountain passes on Interstates 80, 90 and 25 could be covered with snow. Visibility could be less than one quarter of a mile.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-29/major-snowstorm-to-hit-u-s-cattle-herds-at-worst-possible-time

[haikugal]

1. That's a shame.

[sharp_stick]

2. This is when we would try to

get the cows into shelter.

[2naSalit]

3. It's not spring until at least May up around here

so...

We got about a foot the night before last and mush of that melted already. Should get around 6-8" before it's passed by us.

The cattle industry should not be out in this part of the continent because they can't accept that nature isn't on their side on many counts... they expect the taxpayers to cover those operating costs for them.

[hedda_foil]

4. I thought most cattle nowadays were fed corn and soybeans.

How many in the colder reasons are put out to pasture in early spring? A lot of cows need assistance to ensure both they and their calves come through the birthing process, so why aren't they kept in a more sheltered environment? It's not as though ranchers don't know when they're due since they're the ones who artificially inseminate their herds. And the economic cost of losing calves and cows can't be trivial.

This doesn't seem to make sense.

[sense]

5. Feedlot cattle are fed corn and soybeans,

healthy cattle are grass fed and live on the range where they normally do very well. Changing weather will screw up everything.

[2naSalit]

6. A lot of the livestock in the US

travel from range to feedlot to slaughter. Birthing happens when the ranchers plan it and it has been going on up here in the high range for weeks already, sine Feb. And I'm talking the area the weather folks are talking about, ground zero.

Ranching in this part of the country is not financially viable without subsidized grazing, and a host of taxpayer funded assistance due to sparse forage, toxic vegetation, competition with wildlife and predators*, elevation issues and harsh weather. Most of those concerns are not present in ranching lands east of the Rockies.

Calving is a serous time and Mother Nature isn't going along with the business plan this season.

*Taxpayers pay for the USDA APHIS Wildife Services who go out and kill predators when they bother livestock to the tune of millions of $$ annually from both the states and the federal agency.