Beef cattle losses in South Dakota due to early blizzard

Hi,

I have a friend who writes for South Dakota magazine who alerted me to this article:

South Dakotans Will Survive

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We learned it again last week when cold rains doused the sheep and cattle on the West River rangeland, followed by a blizzard now called Atlas that buried the already-freezing and weakened livestock in as much as three feet of wind-driven snow.

Nothing tightens the chest of a rancher more than the sight of an animal lying dead, and it’s far less about money than the simple fact that he or she feels like the guardian of the herd. When adversity hits — even something as impossible to fight as a blizzard called Atlas — the cattleman or sheepherder feels responsible and wonders what might have been done differently.

Catastrophes are always that way.

The October 2013 blizzard was exceptional in its fury, and because it arrived when calves are usually still warming themselves in the autumn sun. But South Dakotans are blizzard survivors.
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Earlier, I have been following articles on this mass death of herds on FeedStuffsFoodLink.com, which usually has information related to agricultural issues both pro and con.

Regards,

It could have been a lot worse as most of the snow remained in the western part of the state.

I just missed the storm. Friends wanted me to drive up with them as far as Pierre, SD. However, I headed straight home for a funeral.

I did not even have a jacket with me !!

That's really sad. I can hardly imagine how hard it would be to witness something like that. And they were just saying that in the south, winter will be warmer this year, but the northern part of the country is an unknown. Not unknown now.

An acquaintance who lives in the area of South Dakota hit offered a bit more detail: "We had a major disaster, much like Hurricane Sandy, however because either we are in South Dakota or there was a Govt. Shutdown, there was no relief, ranchers have lost tens of thousands of cattle, and because of the timing it was as bad as it could be. Not only did the ranchers lose their cows, but most of these cows still had last years calves, so last years herd money is gone, the cows were lost (the herd makers) AND most if not all were bred and carrying calves so next years herd is gone as well. There are still people that I know that do not have power restored and it's been almost 2 weeks." He also noted that the 55 inches of snow caused a lot of roofs to collapse on homes and businesses.

However, on a brighter note, he added that a rancher in Montana has started a project to get cattle and/or money donated to the ranchers hardest hit in South Dakota. http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/cattle-for-south-dakota-ranchers/article_be01c6c6-c7a6-59a8-a084-d4ef8914b48a.html