Extreme Blizzard Kills Thousands of South Dakota Cattle

A strangely large and untimely snowstorm hit South Dakota from 10/3 to 10/5, which averaged 30 inches of snow, with some areas recording almost 5 feet according to The Weather Channel. Unprepared ranchers and farmers were devastated by the snowstorm that killed tens of thousands of cattle, ravaging the state’s $7 billion dollar industry. According to state and industry officials, approximately 75,000 cattle have died since the record breaking storm hit the western section of the state. The South Dakota Stock Growers Association claimed that an estimated 15 to 20 percent of all the cattle in the state. Many ranchers reported that they had lost more than half of their cattle. The snow storm came with hurricane-force winds, driving cattle herds miles away from their ranches in search of shelter. Martha Wierzbicki, emergency management director for Butte County, South Dakota, said that trails of dead cattle carcasses were present everywhere after the storm subsided. Many ranchers have no one to assist them for reimbursement because of the lack of new congressional subsidies for agriculture producers that would provide support in such circumstances. State Agriculture Secretary Lucas Lentsch, called the early-season blizzard “devastating to our producers.” The most immediate concern, following the blizzard, is the disposal of all the dead livestock. According to state law they must be burned, buried or rendered within 36 hours in order to prevent the spread of disease to other cattle or people in the surrounding communities. Dustin Oedekoven, South Dakota’s state veterinarian, attested to the importance of disposal, stating that they “can be a significant source of disease spread, so we want to make sure those carcasses are burned, buried or rendered as quickly as possible.” The South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association warned that the effects of the snowstorm would be present years afterwards. The loss of tens of thousands of cattle, including the prospect of calves that would have been delivered by many of those cattle, has caused and will continue to affect the cattle numbers in South Dakota. Additionally, the stress of the storm will leave its mark on surviving herds, according to the South Dakota State University Agricultural Extension Service, from the host of ruinous diseases present from the decaying carcasses.