Extreme drought and heat are creating such bad conditions for cattle that thousands of them are dying from heat stress.
Ranchers in Kansas, Texas and other cattle-raising states are getting squeezed intolerably by weather conditions. Not only is the heat harming the cattle directly, but a lack of grass is hindering their diets.
Conditions in Kansas reached a peak the weekend of June 11, when temperatures topped 100° F. in the southwest part of the state. More than 2,000 cattle died. It got so bad that plants that use heat-killed cattle for fertilizer or dog food (they can’t be processed into human food) couldn’t accept any more carcasses. They had to be buried or landfilled, and Kansas authorities had to temporarily suspend regulations such as requiring that cattle carcasses be covered with a layer of dirt or trash at least six inches deep.
Even surviving cattle are coping with the disruption that extreme heat brings to diets and habits. "Cattle are somewhat still struggling. We really compromised them," a veterinarian told Reuters.
Ranchers who can do so are selling off their cattle, which will create a short-term market glut of meat. However, beef prices will rise in the longer term if ranchers decide to cut back on their herds.
