Extreme heat kills thousands of cattle in Kansas | Climate and Environment

Thousands of cattle have died in Kansas this week as a result of the heat wave that affects much of the United States, according to local authorities. The high temperatures have been combined with high humidity, the absence of winds and probably the lack of water and sufficient care, according to the same sources. “The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has evidence of the death of at least 2,000 cattle in southwestern Kansas,” Matthew Lara, communication director of the agency, told EL PAÍS.

According to Lara, that number stems from the rancher requests her agency has received for help disposing of the remains. Ranchers are not required to report deaths, so the number could be considerably higher. The media specialized in livestock information DTN raises the estimate to about 10,000 deaths, citing sources in the sector. The Kansas Cattlemen’s Association did not provide its own calculation to questions from this newspaper. DTM points out that the most affected area is the area around Ulysses, in the southwest of the State.

Kansas, located almost in the geographic center of the United States, has about 2.4 million head of cattle, according to data cited by Reuters. It is the third cattle state in the country, behind Texas and Nebraska. The State has suffered temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius this week. To this has been added an unusually high humidity and the absence of wind, a kind of perfect storm.

In social networks a video circulates in the last days in which dozens of dead cattle are seen that have been repeatedly attributed to the State of Kansas, but EL PAÍS has not been able to verify that it corresponds to the current episode or obtain confirmation from the Department of Health and Environment or the Association of Livestock Farmers from Kansas. “At this time, we have not been able to verify that the video is from Kansas,” Lara told EL PAÍS.

Temperatures of up to 42 degrees are also expected this weekend, but the humidity and wind conditions will be more favorable, reducing the risk of cattle deaths. The heat wave will spread across most of the country.

Episodes of heat deaths of cattle are not uncommon in Kansas, although this time it has been larger. The Kansas Cattlemen’s Association explains that controlling air temperature, humidity, wind speed and cloud cover is an important part of managing cattle heat stress. Nighttime low temperatures above 23 degrees Celsius do not allow cattle to cool down adequately, requiring further observation and possibly intervention the following day.

To combat the effects of the heat, farmers are recommended to modify their feeding times, so that they eat as late as possible and digest at night, when temperatures drop somewhat more. It is also recommended to facilitate airflow by stocking fewer livestock, removing barriers to airflow, installing shade structures and sprinklers, and providing abundant water supplies.

Extreme weather is also affecting other parts of the United States with severe storms and flooding. The Yellowstone National Park, in the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, in the northeast of the country, has had to be closed after the floods and floods caused by the rains and rapid melting. The water currents have overflowed their banks in numerous places and have washed away sections of roads and other infrastructure.

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