Livestock
-
Newser reported this week that Los Angeles broke a 131-year temperature record on Saturday with a temperature of 96 F in downtown LA, surpassing the old record of 95 F set back in 1886. The high temperatures have caused problems for children, the elderly and other vulnerable populations and increased the incidence of heat-related illnesses…
-
Growing Georgia posted a story this week on the impacts of the wet weather we have been having in the Southeast on forage conditions. The damp conditions have fostered the growth of mold in some forage and farmers need to check it carefully before feeding it to their livestock, since the presence of mold can…
-
Food and Wine magazine had an interesting article this week on efforts by University of Florida scientists to produce a cow that is more resistant to hot conditions by crossing Angus with Brahman breeds. According to the article ,”the new “heat-resistant” cow would be able to better handle heat stress, they say, and because of…
-
One of the consequences of the rainy conditions in the central US this year has been exceptional runoff of fertilizer and other agricultural chemicals as well as animal waste, most of which make their way down the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico. These chemicals help lead to the development of a “dead zone”…
-
In the last few days I’ve seen several interesting stories on different aspects of cattle cross my desk . The first is a story in Wired.com about how mathematicians have simulated the behavior of herds of cattle using a computer model. The story describes how the model is set up to include different sizes of…
-
NOAA’s Climate.gov blog has a good discussion of the mid-March freeze event by Jake Crouch. It describes how it fits into historical context both with the warm winter that preceded it and the comparison to average last frost dates. It also describes what damage it caused, both to peaches and blueberries as well as pastures.…
-
While the dry conditions in the Southeast have eased in recent weeks due to the welcome (mostly) rain we have received, livestock producers in the Northern Plains have not fared so well. Much above normal temperatures coupled with dry conditions have led to increasing drought in the region, stopping the growth of pastures and forage…