Extreme heat takes toll on South Dakota cattle

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO)-- Recent stretches of extreme heat and humidity have taken a heavy toll on South Dakota’s cattle industry, with producers reporting livestock losses despite taking steps to protect their animals. Experts say the combination of high temperatures, humidity, and little overnight cooling created dangerous conditions for cattle, particularly across central South Dakota. “We sweat to remove heat load. Cattle don’t do that to nearly that kind of extent that we, you and I do, or a horse,” said Warren Rusche, assistant professor and Extension beef feedlot management specialist at South Dakota State University. “What they will do, though, is increase respiration rate. They’ll just breathe more to try to get rid of heat that way. Unfortunately, that’s not a terribly efficient method.” Rusche said cattle faced especially dangerous conditions during the recent heat wave because temperatures remained high overnight, preventing animals from recovering from the day’s heat. Using data from the University of South Dakota’s Mesonet, Rusche said livestock heat stress indexes showed conditions reached the “extreme danger” category. “There’s an index called the Cattle Comfort Index,” Rusche said. “What that data told us and what we knew just going outside is that over this last weekend, particularly on Sunday, those conditions were in the extreme danger category.” Producers used shade structures, sprinklers, and water to help cool their cattle, but Rusche said the weather conditions became severe enough that some animals still succumbed to heat stress. “I’m hearing of cattle losses that were occurring underneath shade structures,” Rusche said. “So that’s the really hard part about this. I’m confident that those cattle feeders were doing all they could. It just unfortunately wasn’t enough.” When speaking with KELOLAND News at SDSU on Thursday, Rusche emphasized the losses were not the result of neglect. “None of this was caused by neglect,” he said. “People were doing everything they could. It’s unfortunately a risk factor that we have to deal with here in South Dakota, in the Midwest, in feeding cattle, is that hot and humid conditions do occur and they can be dangerous.” Marshall County rancher and former South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association President, Warren Symens, said producers work year-round to care for their animals, making losses especially difficult. “At the end of the day, Mother Nature is in charge, and you can feel pretty helpless,” Symens said. “We do our best to keep cattle safe, to keep cattle healthy, to keep cattle comfortable.” Symens uses hoop-shaped canvas barns, so he isn't seeing as much heat stress as other producers around the state. But he understands what these losses mean, as it's more than just a financial impact. "A calf is born in a spring, and you spend a year raising him, and then you spend another 6 to 8 and maybe another year feeding him. After the cow is done raising him, you put a lot of time and effort into keeping them healthy," Symens said. "It takes a big investment, not just in dollars, but in time... When cattle start tipping over, God forbid that happens when it gets this hot, not only can that happen, cattle can be set back financially as well... There is a toll that it takes on you after a while if you have loss.” Rusche echoed those sentiments, saying the emotional burden can linger long after the heat subsides. “It’s also just a gut-wrenching, really hard thing to deal with,” he said. “People that feed cattle and raise livestock certainly want to make money doing that, but that’s not the only reason. To have to watch the cow you’re caring for die because of a weather event, knowing you did all you could and it just didn’t work, that’s really a tough thing.” Officials are still working to determine the full extent of the livestock losses. “The final counts aren’t available yet,” Rusche said. “People that are out in the field that I think have a pretty good handle on that. You know, in their estimates, one of the person whose opinion I value was thinking around 2,000 head in South Dakota.” Earlier this week, Gov. Larry Rhoden offered his condolences to producers affected by the heat-related cattle losses in a post on social media. Rhoden encouraged ranchers to document their losses and contact their local Farm Service Agency office to learn about disaster assistance programs that may be available. He also said he has directed the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Department of Social Services to work together to assist affected ranchers. “My heart goes out to the producers who have suffered devastating livestock losses during this extreme heat,” Rhoden wrote. “As a lifelong rancher, I know these losses are more than economic... they’re felt personally.”