Feedyard News

Flash Flooding Hits Texas Panhandle, Several Feedyards Now Face Massive Cleanup and Cattle Losses

Tue, 30 May 2023 18:18:41 GMT

From drought to now major flooding, historic rainfall fell in the Texas Panhandle over the weekend and prompted flooding. Hereford, Texas, is an area that was hit especially hard by the historic rains, with feedyards flooded and cattle trapped. Now, work is underway to pump a massive amount of water out.

According to the National Weather Service in Amarillo, the Hereford, Texas, area unofficially received 8 inches of rain in the past month. The heaviest rainfall event came Friday morning, with some volunteer observers showing 2.45 inches of rain fell in just 40 minutes.

@NWSAmarillo US Highway 385 is now being overtopped in the south side of Hereford. Water has come up approximately 5 feet in the last 30 min. Taken 9:20am pic.twitter.com/Gb1wCh49sT
— Brady Kendrick (@BradyKendrick24) May 27, 2023

According to John Robinson, senior vice president of membership and communications for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the water simply had nowhere to go, which prompted the flooding around Hereford. With such a quick rainfall event, there also wasn’t any advance notice that would have allowed residents to prepare.

“It’s flat topography down there. Once those creek beds that have been really dry for years fill up, there’s no place for that water to go. So that water spills over into low-lying areas adjacent to those creek beds. And it’s really caused a problem around the Hereford-Amarillo area down in the panhandle of Texas,” says Robinson.

The flooding impacted residential areas, and from an agricultural perspective, Hereford is also a major cattle production area and home to several feedyards.

“It’s one of the largest cattle feeding areas in the United States, so there are definitely widespread impacts,” says Robinson. “There’s probably going to be some production losses, some performance losses in terms of rate of gain, things like that.”

FLOODING IN HEREFORD continues. All of this water is headed to Buffalo lake and if/when it is full, the rest will head towards Palo Duro Canyon. Here is some video from @DowningMitchell #txwx #flooding #heavyrain @ABC7Amarillo @StormSearch7 @natwxdesk @NWSAmarillo pic.twitter.com/oLXi3x1AHU
— Corbin Voges WX (@CorbinVogesWX) May 27, 2023

Robinson points out while the short-term impact is painful for any feedyard dealing with the flooding, he says it shouldn’t create a big impact on cattle supply longer-term.

“It’s mostly going to work its way out here in the next few days,” he says. “There shouldn’t be supply chain increases, there shouldn’t be significant price increases. Who knows what else might happen in the meantime, but the impacts are going to be relatively short-lived for the vast majority of these areas.”

Major flooding in Hereford, TX following the overnight storm. Houses, cars, and semi-trucks under water as authorities work to divert citizens from the area. @ABC7Amarillo @StormSearch7 pic.twitter.com/GzY48iKqK7
— Mitchell Downing (@DowningMitchell) May 27, 2023

Some rumored estimates over the holiday weekend claimed 25,000 head of cattle died in the flooding, but NCBA says its representatives are in constant conversation with several producers in the area, and those estimates are way too high. NCBA says everyone is still trying to get a handle on losses, but it’s a fraction of the 25,000 number being thrown around.

Robinson says feedyards around Hereford are getting creative in pumping water out and cattle to dry ground.

“On one yard in particular, they brought in some dewatering pumps from oil drilling sites, maybe as far away as New Mexico. They’re pumping that water out, in some cases, over a mile to get it off of the feedyard so they can dry things out, get cattle to a safe, dry place to bed down,” he says.

Most of the water has receded in the Hereford area, but Robinson says there will be a lot of clean-up work that follows.

“While they’re trying to get all this other work done, they’re getting fences repaired, VDR pens repaired and dried. And it’s a lot of work. But there’s a committed crew of folks down there doing it, and not just from the agriculture industry, but from oil and gas and others as well,” says Robinson.

More precipitation could be on the way. Forecasts point to more severe weather—and heavy rains—which could cause further flooding.

Did High Heat And Humidity Really Cause Cattle Deaths In Kansas? The Latest Look at Potential Losses

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 19:11:09 GMT

Drought-plagued western Kansas recently saw rain. While the moisture was welcomed, it also coupled high humidity with high heat this week. As feedyards battled through the intense conditions to keep their cattle safe, the heat and humidity proved devastating , with estimates now pointing to feedlots seeing losses of 100 to 500 head per day.

An unconfirmed video of dead black-hided cattle made its rounds on social media this week. The rare scenario is something feedlot operators couldn’t avoid. Dr. Dan Thomson , a bovine vet who specializes in animal health welfare, recently spoke to Farm Journal’s Michelle Rook .

“If we have a rain event that increases the humidity in the environment, through mud and different things like that, followed by extreme temperatures with a decrease in wind, we can see these thermal heat indexes rise to where cattle accumulate heat,” Thomson says.

He says the scenario is similar to the impact of a natural disaster. While feedlots did everything possible to prepare and provide cattle relief, the climate conditions meant the cattle didn’t have a chance to cool down, and in some cases, the internal temperature rose too much, which caused the rare losses.

“During these bouts of extreme heat, the cattle can’t dissipate the heat at night because there’s not night cooling,” Thomson says. “And so this perfect storm, it’s no different than a tornado hitting a cattle feeding facility or a derecho. We have these natural disasters.”

Estimated Losses Still in Question

While there’s no way of knowing just how many cattle have died from the heat this week, Reuters quoted the Kansas Department of Health and Environment saying at least 2,000 head of cattle had been lost. One Drovers source says it’s very possible 5,000 cattle may have succumbed to the heat, but the talk of 10,000 head is likely an exaggeration of reality.

With herd culling is already taking place due to the drought this year, Mark Gold of StoneX Group says it will have an impact on the supply of cattle in the U.S.

“The rumors are that we’re losing 100 to 500 head per feedlot out here,” says Gold. “That’s a lot of cattle.

Losses Could Have Been Worse

No matter what the final total ends up being, those losses are difficult for feedyard operators and employees who Thomson says made a relentless effort to get the cattle water and comfort through bedding in order to help the cattle cool off.

“It’s something if our people on the ground wouldn’t have been doing the job that they’re doing, there would have been so much more death loss,” he says.

High Heat Expected to Stick Around

The record-breaking heat across the South and Midwest is something that may continue to be a factor in the months ahead. The extreme weather, including hail and flooding, can all be attributed to a ridge of high pressure parked over the country.

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says while the ridge of high pressure is parked over the country, it has been shape shifting the past few days.

“This year, 2022, it does appear that we have a rather intense ridge of high pressure,” says Rippey.

Rippey says a ridge of high pressure is an annual occurrence, conditions just vary based on where the ridge is located, and how intense it is.

“We saw it become established over the desert southwest, it’s made a run across the great plains now more recently into the Midwest, the mid-South, and even the Southeast with early triple digit heat, that in fact is maybe a bit of a warning sign ,” Rippey explains .

Rippey says as the ridge shape shifts, the outer edge creates what’s called a “ring of fire.” That ring can then cause severe storms, including the hail and flooding this week. He expects the ridge to stick around, but there’s no way of knowing exactly where the ridge remains parked, but he does expect hot and dry conditions in the souther plains.

Parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas have seen recent rains. While it is prompting pasture conditions to slightly improve, Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University livestock specialist, says damage from the drought has already been done.

“I think we’re looking at a record level of net cow culling up around 13% and probably a 3% to 4% decrease in the beef cow herd,” says Peel. “Even if the drought conditions changed dramatically from this point on, it’s almost too late for us to really recover from the loss and forage and the amount of cows we’ve already culled this year.”

Group with Ties to Mormon Church Outbids Bill Gates’ Group for Easterday Land

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 20:34:59 GMT

An investment company with ties to the Mormon church has the high bid for land that belonged to the now bankrupt Easterday Farms and Easterday Ranches.

A company called Farmland Reserve submitted a bid of $209 million dollars for more than 33,000 acres of land in Benton County, Washington. The second highest bid came from a group linked to Microsoft founder Bill Gates. A judge has to make a determination before the sale can be finalized.

Earlier this year 49-year-old Cody Easterday pleaded guilty in a so-called ghost cattle scheme . He was accused of charging Tyson Foods for the costs of buying and feeding as many as 200,000 cattle that simply did not exist.

Related on Drovers:

Tyson Sues Cattle Feeder Over ‘Fraudulent Scheme’

AB Livestock Buys Feedlot Entangled In Tyson Lawsuit

Tyson Alleges Easterday Conducted A “Fire Sale”

CFTC Files Charges Against Easterday

Easterday Pleads Guilty To Defrauding Tyson

Ghost-Cattle Scheme Spawns Another Lawsuit