Livestock
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I’ve posted several stories about the impacts of Sally on agriculture in the Southeast. This latest, from IFAS, indicates that the costs from Sally were between $55 and $100 million. Damage from 2018 Hurricane Michael was worse because the winds were stronger and lasted farther inland, but Sally dropped a lot more rain because it…
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If you are squeamish, you might want to pass on this story. One of the impacts of Hurricane Laura that is causing significant problems for livestock producers is the huge infestation of mosquitoes that has bred in the hot, moist conditions left in Louisiana after the passage of Hurricane Laura. Apparently the swarms of mosquitoes…
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It may seem unlikely, but a pair of typhoons in the Western Pacific may have contributed to the blast of cold air that is moving through the central US, according to an article this week in AgFax. According to the article, the typhoons helped build up a strong ridge of high pressure in the western…
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The severe drought in the western United States is causing many issues for agricultural producers. Fires are burning up rangeland and forests, and the extremely dry conditions have shut down the growth of grasses needed for production of cattle. This is causing ranchers concern about how rising temperatures may be leading to longer and stronger…
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Agricultural producers are still assessing the impacts of Hurricane Laura on their crops and livestock. In spite of strong winds and heavy rain that caused power outages and flattened many fields, some areas were less hard hit than originally thought. Here are two articles from Southeast Farm Press which describe some of the damage that…
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As we watch two tropical storms move past us to the west, you might be wondering how livestock producers respond to the passage of a tropical storm or hurricane near their farms. This audio story from Yale Climate Connections describes how beef cattle respond differently to the storm than horses do and how management plans…
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While in the Southeast we have had problems with livestock after some recent hurricanes like Matthew, I don’t usually think about it in terms of bad weather in the Midwest. But the terrible derecho that they had last week has provided some interesting stories about how producers there are dealing with losses of barns, feed…