yinne Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Please be in prayer for the people in western South Dakota. Slowly starting to see some news coverage of this, but the folks in western South Dakota are experiencing devastating losses from the snow storms this past weekend. Have heard reports of ranchers having lost up to 50% of their herd. Estimates of over 60,000 cattle were killed. Just heard about a friend who lost 30 head of bred heifers that were getting ready to be sold. For those that don't understand ranching that is a devastating financial blow, not to mention the emotional toil it takes on families. Rainbow Bible Camp estimates that they lost 90 horses -- http://www.worldmag.com/2013/10/south_dakota_staggers_under_early_blizzard http://dawnwink.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/the-blizzard-that-never-was-and-its-aftermath-on-cattle-and-ranchers/ https://www.facebook.com/ranchersrelieffund http://bigballsincowtown.com/storm2013.htm Yvonne in NE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatherwith4 Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Oh, that's so sad. :( I will be praying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKim Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 That is indeed so sad. I just saw this a bit ago and was wondering why in the world we are just now hearing about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 I didn't know this. Praying for all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moxie Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 I don't understand this. How does a snowstorm kill a cow? Serious question, no snark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainySunday Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 I don't understand this. How does a snowstorm kill a cow? Serious question, no snark. From what I've read...usually they don't. In this case, the storm was way way early in the year, so the cows didn't have their winter coat (which helps them shed the water from winter storms usually), and they were still out on summer pasture (summer pasture= wide open, large spaces with little protection; winter pasture is smaller, often closer to home, and more protection). Additionally, the storm was much worse than predicted (we'll get rain, higher up might get snow), and ended up being more in the realm of inches per hour of snow. The snow was wet and got stuck in the cow's coats, was heavy, etc. The storm was bad enough, many ranchers couldn't get out without risking their own lives to get to the animals. It was really a "perfect storm" of conditions. My thoughts are with all dealing with the aftermath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 :crying: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Yes. 2 minutes ago, I read this article and told DD about it. I will include the ranchers there, in my daily prayers. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/11/south-dakota-ranchers-reel-after-catastrophic-storm-leaves-up-to-100000-cattle/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 I'm so sorry. :( I didn't know anything about this until you posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 From what I've read...usually they don't. In this case, the storm was way way early in the year, so the cows didn't have their winter coat (which helps them shed the water from winter storms usually), and they were still out on summer pasture (summer pasture= wide open, large spaces with little protection; winter pasture is smaller, often closer to home, and more protection). Additionally, the storm was much worse than predicted (we'll get rain, higher up might get snow), and ended up being more in the realm of inches per hour of snow. The snow was wet and got stuck in the cow's coats, was heavy, etc. The storm was bad enough, many ranchers couldn't get out without risking their own lives to get to the animals. It was really a "perfect storm" of conditions. My thoughts are with all dealing with the aftermath. :iagree: I only knew about it because my sister is a rancher in northern Nebraska and she's been posting about it on facebook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 I don't understand this. How does a snowstorm kill a cow? Serious question, no snark. Twelve hours of rain followed by 48 hours of heavy (and in some places record-breaking) snow and 60mph winds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yinne Posted October 11, 2013 Author Share Posted October 11, 2013 I don't understand this. How does a snowstorm kill a cow? Serious question, no snark. Across the state, snow totals averaged – averaged! – 30 inches (76 cm). Some isolated areas recorded almost 5 feet (140 cm), The Weather Channel reported. That’s shoulder-height-deep for most people. It’s so early in the season that the animals hadn’t yet grown their heavier winter coats, leaving them unprotected. “The cattle were soaked to the bone,†said Silvia Christen, executive director of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association. “Then the wind and really heavy snow started — it just clung to them and weighed them down.†“Many of them just dropped where they were walking,†she said, adding that at least 5 percent of the roughly 1.2 million cattle in the western third of South Dakota likely perished. A trail of carcasses left a gruesome sight, said Martha Wierzbicki, emergency management director for Butte County, in the northwestern corner of the state. “They’re in the fence line, laying alongside the roads,†Wierzbicki told The Rapid City Journal. “It’s really sickening.†The effects will be felt for years, warned the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association. Not only were tens of thousands of calves killed, but so were thousands more pregnant cows that would have delivered calves next year. As if that weren’t enough, the stress of the storm will leave the remaining cattle vulnerable to several infectious and ruinous diseases, said South Dakota State University Agricultural Extension Service. and this.... Cattle died of hypothermia or suffocated under snowdrifts after a “perfect storm†brought rain, then record snowfall and strong winds to the portion of the state west of the Missouri River, said Silvia Christen, executive director of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association. Yvonne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Thank you for posting this. I will gladly pray for those affected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Will pray. How awful. I really admire ranchers and farmers, and always root for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yinne Posted October 12, 2013 Author Share Posted October 12, 2013 http://igrow.org/livestock/beef/understanding-what-happened/ This article explains how the storm in SD and also northwest Nebraska killed so much livestock. Yvonne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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