July 21, 2010
By Kirstie Hettinga
AccuWeather
Hot weather is killing cattle in Kansas.
Photo: Cattle cool off in a water pond, near Waterloo, Neb., in June 2009. A combination of high temperatures and humidity in Nebraska killed hundreds of cattle, authorities said. Similar cattle deaths occurred last week in sections of central Kansas. (AP /Nati Harnik)
Ken Powell, with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said, "The death loss was heaviest Thursday, Friday and into Saturday," of last week.
More than 2,000 cattle died because of high temperatures, which Powell said climbed as high as 103 or 104 degrees Fahrenheit. The bigger issue, though, according to Powell was the humidity, with levels near 60 percent and the lack of wind.
Typically, the cattle can withstand high temperatures, "as long as the humidity is... [40 percent] and there's a breeze," Powell said.
Most of the deaths were concentrated in a narrow band about 40-50 miles wide, Powell said, particularly in north-central Kansas, to the Nebraska border and down toward Dodge City.
Powell works in the bureau of waste management and oversees the disposal of the cattle.
As losses were so high, Powell said they were forced to bury and compost some of the cattle. The preferred method of disposal is rendering.
Powell said, "better than half [of the dead cattle] went into rendering."
According to Powell, the death toll was much lower in far west Kansas, where even though temperatures might have been higher, there was lower humidity and some moving air.
There has been some relief in recent days as there has been a greater breeze, Powell said.
"Cattlemen I've talked to think they're OK for now," he said.
However, AccuWeather.com Agricultural Meteorologist Dale Mohler said the respite may be over.
Cooling rain yesterday brought the temperatures lower, but also added moisture to the air.
Mohler said residents can expect "blazing hot" temperatures Wednesday through Friday of this week with an AccuWeather RealFeel™ of 105 F for Salina, Kan.
According to Mohler, the humidity will remain high with a slight chance of isolated storms.
Later this weekend, a cold front is expected to move through, which will drop temperatures into the mid-80s.
AccuWeather.com meteorologists are also predicting, however, that the current trend of above-normal temperatures will continue into August.
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/34312/more-cattle-at-risk-as-tempera.asp