Fat Cattle Dead in Kansas

[supercorndogs]

I watched an angus bull walk and put its nose on the top rung of a 6ft drill pipe holding pen. The rear back and jump right over. It kind of lifted and kicked its back legs like it had done it before and didn't make all the way. Then took off.

My buddy had bull just show up with their cows this spring. They brought it home while they were looking for the owner. IT was super nice bull. It had almost undoubtedly been hand fed. We were filling tubs with manure out of the alleyways, and the bull would start dancing around like a puppy when we would walk by with a bucket. My wife said, "Ithoght he was going to smash the fence and attack you guys." I said "Na, he was just happy thinking it was treat time."

 

[babyguppy]

We had a Herford bull that was a puppy. We could ride him and he didn't care. He was NEVER in a hurry to go anywhere. He got into the haystack and I smacked his butt with a 2x4.. he didn't move. He looked at me like I was bothering him and he SLOWLY meandered off. Good ol 'bully' . good times

 

[armorpl8chikn]

No one has mentioned the Florida Cracker cattle.
You fucking racists.

 

[hlee]

No one has mentioned the Florida Cracker cattle.
You fucking racists.

Just learned something new.

Florida Cracker Cattle - Oklahoma State University

Florida Cracker Cattle are known for their fertility, heat and humidity tolerance and insect tolerance which makes well-adapted for low-input beef production.

afs.okstate.edu

 

[kcbird]

Google say 95,000 cows are slaughtered daily in the us. I think the 10k loss is recoverable, were not going to starve.

 

[DuneBoer]

 

[akmike47]

Google say 95,000 cows are slaughtered daily in the us. I think the 10k loss is recoverable, were not going to starve.

I think the problem is all the freak incidents happening in the food supply all over. Not just this one happening.

 

[akmike47]

Are they on pastures or drunk in a feedlot?

Both

 

[stello1001]

We are heaving heat waves in the 3 digits here in Texas and I'm not seeing dead cows...

 

[kcbird]

I think the problem is all the freak incidents happening in the food supply all over. Not just this one happening.

I think there are always problems but the media hasn't always been there with a mircoscope trying to freak everone out. This causes more supply problems because stupid ass people go out and panic buy

 

[akmike47]

I think there are always problems but the media isnt always on it with a mircoscope trying to freak everone out. This causes more supply problems because stupid ass people go out and panic buy

I don’t panic buy, maybe I should...but I don’t.

 

[akmike47]

I watched an angus bull walk and put its nose on the top rung of a 6ft drill pipe holding pen. The rear back and jump right over. It kind of lifted and kicked its back legs like it had done it before and didn't make all the way. Then took off.

My buddy had bull just show up with their cows this spring. They brought it home while they were looking for the owner. IT was super nice bull. It had almost undoubtedly been hand fed. We were filling tubs with manure out of the alleyways, and the bull would start dancing around like a puppy when we would walk by with a bucket. My wife said, "Ithoght he was going to smash the fence and attack you guys." I said "Na, he was just happy thinking it was treat time."

I’ve seen bucking bulls like that, but put them in a chute and they will murder you. They get babied the rest of the month.

 

[Eli17L]

Feedlot issue not a weather issue.

 

[Hobo Hilton]

Some of you may know of Ann Barnhardt. I have followed her for many years.

UPDATED: As a cattle person, I need to weigh-in on the “mass cattle die-off” video that’s going around.​

UPDATED: As a cattle person, I need to weigh-in on the “mass cattle die-off” video that’s going around. | Barnhardt

www.barnhardt.biz

 

[XikoPlavi]

As a bit of a cattleman myself, I'll confirm that cattle can and will die in heat waves.

Stockyards and feed yards have little to no shade, and zero ponds for the cattle to stand in. Here in the Oklahoma heat, most of my cows and calves will spend a couple hours per day standing in a pond or creek. Certainly they spend 90 percent of the rest of the time in shade.

In addition, many of your favorite "breeds" and crosses for steaks are black, and fed to have more fat...two big negatives in the heat and sunshine. Add the stress of being cramped into small spaces (stressed cattle evacuate - piss and shit a lot), and it is a recipe for disaster.

I'll be taking another 38 calves to market in a couple weeks (I run two loads per year). On the July run, I'm off in enough time to make sure they hit the stockyard before noon.

So do you make more or less than -38000$ of of them. You say calves so I assume less. Just curious

 

[OldSalty2]

Can still eat them, no?

 

[skinney_7]

I replied to this post on IG, and got a shit ton of haters "conspiracy theorists" telling me I was wrong.
I see a few here that actually know WTF they are talking about, but here's the gist of the situation.
Feedlot cattle aren't in the same environment as pasture cattle, it's literally apples to oranges.
Feedlot aka fat cattle, what you see above mostly fat cows are anywhere from 1200 to 1600lbs, literally pushed to the absolute max, 20-40lbs of corn per head per day, internal organs compromised, stressed from every which way possible. Most of these dead, were only days before slaughter, which means they were maxed out, finished, done.
Now put them in a small acreage feedlot, which to some of you may not be that small, but it is, when there are thousands of bodies stacked together, no wind, no moisture, only heat, standing on your own shit, and piss, no grass, not even a green weed, trampled black dirt, that attracts more heat than the sand that scolds your feet on the beach. Black Angus already attract more heat, because they're black, with minimal capabilities to "sweat it off" Cattle mostly rely on respiration, they will literally pant, like a dog when they over heat, not to mention their rumen becomes an overly gassed fermentation oven that will cause them to bloat easier, and quicker, and when you're on a Mega Cal ration that these fuckers were on, it's a time bomb. When a 300 pound belly full of gas gets as tight as a snare drum, it will push the lungs to collapse, and heart to fail, death happens fast.
I've heard of massive fuck ups with guys putting 32-0-0 in the ration because they used gravity bins and hoppers to store the fertilizer and the fellas feeding didn't verify the difference between that and cake. But that's one event, in one isolated incident, this is a region of abnormal heat, shit happens, once in a lifetime storms hit, I've seen em. Maybe I'm wrong, if I am, I'll own everything above that I said without hesitation. I'll Bet ya I'm not though.
What's really fucked up about this situation, is the people on social media, who have no understanding of real life shit like this, and the gov it so corrupt with all the forked tongued POS lawyers, everybody thinks it's a conspiracy. I guess rightfully so...
It's 95F here, I just checked our pasture tanks and wells, and now we're headed to put the sprinklers on my kids 4H calves to keep heat stress down.

 

[OldSalty2]

Oh, and shade in southwestern kansas...lol....no.

 

[hlee]

Can still eat them, no?

A non-ambulatory animal cannot be slaughtered in the US, by law. Not even for dog food. This is a rule that came to pass during the mad cow scare of the early 2000s. Prior, an animal need only be breathing before slaughter. So, no, an animal that dies prior to slaughter cannot be eaten- at least they cannot be sold for consumption.

 

[hlee]

The insinuation of “fat cattle dead in kansas” is that these were healthy animals. You know, “fat and happy.“ But, a fat cow isn’t any healthier than a fat human. How long would 10,000 obese humans last when jammed onto an asphalt lot, in 100 degree weather, with no shade, and fed soda water and corn dogs?

 

[OldSalty2]

A non-ambulatory animal cannot be slaughtered in the US, by law. Not even for dog food. This is a rule that came to pass during the mad cow scare of the early 2000s. Prior, an animal need only be breathing before slaughter. So, no, an animal that dies prior to slaughter cannot be eaten- at least they cannot be sold for consumption.

Damn, what a waste.

 

[hlee]

Damn, what a waste.

Obviously sick animals being drug through a chute, by a tractor, into a slaughter facility, didn't play well in the media during the mad cow days...

 

[babyguppy]

Obviously sick animals being drug through a chute, by a tractor, into a slaughter facility, didn't play well in the media during the mad cow days...

If I remember correctly, the politicians fk'd the US cattlemen, by allowing mad cow into the US through Canada. Japan, said hell no to the USA. and cows were not allowed to be imported into Japan. (Japan actually cares about their citizens)
The US politicians, could of helped the US cattlemen by saying, hell now to mad cow; instead $$ talks and politicians screwed the USA guys.

 

[Forgetful Coyote]

When I was yet working one of our clients at a local university were Agroclimatoligists. Used to have some pretty cool discussions with those folks about the effects of climate change on farming, livestock production, agriculture and such silly shit....they were sounding the alarms a few decades ago about how the numbers of days above "critical temperature" has been steadily rising and growing exponentially. Too many hot days in a row above a certain temperature affects many things agricultural. We ain't seen nothing yet if these guys are even half right.

VooDoo

 

[hlee]

If I remember correctly, the politicians fk'd the US cattlemen, by allowing mad cow into the US through Canada. Japan, said hell no to the USA. and cows were not allowed to be imported into Japan. (Japan actually cares about their citizens)
The US politicians, could of helped the US cattlemen by saying, hell now to mad cow; instead $$ talks and politicians screwed the USA guys.

Whether it be mad cow, a broken leg, or some other malady, the above image didn’t play well. It was just that the mad cow scare provided a back drop for that rule change.

If the coin had landed the other way, US cattlemen would have chaffed under “unreasonable regulations.” I’m not defending govt in/action, but nobody was going to be happy- regardless.

 

[cas6969]

If they died from heat, that just means you don't have to cook em as long! Get to butchering!

 

[babyguppy]

If they died from heat, that just means you don't have to cook em as long! Get to butchering!

I would've of been out there, the next morning, pulling ribeyes, tenderloins, and rear legs off all that beef.
It could of been one hell of a BBQ

 

[diggler1833]

So do you make more or less than -38000$ of of them. You say calves so I assume less. Just curious

Actually a touch more, and had a real surprise yesterday; a family friend (also has a cattle operation) has a brother (also a rancher) who bought our entire calf lot, sight unseen. I guess he is getting into the stockers.

Anyway, he'll be over Tuesday to run them across the scales here, and will pay exactly what they'd sell for in OKC (we sell at the National Stockyards). Saves me a trip and diesel...actually two trips as I had three culls (small calves) that I'd have to sell separately in McAlester).

Here is a photo of what they weighed at ~8 months, and after 30 days weaned. It was taken about three weeks ago. I figure a rough estimate of $1050/heifer and 1200/steer right now (on average), but I haven't checked the futures at all. Average weights the last group were 683/heifer and 721/steer at ~9 months.

My last weight and Average Daily Gain (ADG). With my wife being a Veterinarian, we do stuff like hire a feed consultant etc... However, our calves put on weight really well.

Here's last week's prices on feeders. We always sell at or near max, but average will give you a decent idea per head.

 

[lariat]

Actually a touch more, and had a real surprise yesterday; a family friend (also has a cattle operation) has a brother (also a rancher) who bought our entire calf lot, sight unseen. I guess he is getting into the stockers.

Anyway, he'll be over Tuesday to run them across the scales here, and will pay exactly what they'd sell for in OKC (we sell at the National Stockyards). Saves me a trip and diesel...actually two trips as I had three culls (small calves) that I'd have to sell separately in McAlester).

Here is a photo of what they weighed at ~8 months, and after 30 days weaned. It was taken about three weeks ago. I figure a rough estimate of $1050/heifer and 1200/steer right now (on average), but I haven't checked the futures at all. Average weights the last group were 683/heifer and 721/steer at ~9 months.

My last weight and Average Daily Gain (ADG). With my wife being a Veterinarian, we do stuff like hire a feed consultant etc... However, our calves put on weight really well.
View attachment 7894332

Here's last week's prices on feeders. We always sell at or near max, but average will give you a decent idea per head.
View attachment 7894333

Well done sir.

 

[lariat]

If they died from heat, that just means you don't have to cook em as long! Get to butchering!

Curious: you ever butchered a cow? I have.

 

[pmclaine]

So you are basing our changing world on the observations of your shirt life time. Thats the problem. Worlds been changing a long time chief.

No all you had to do was make claims. I wanted to see how you substantiated them. As I figured you really didn't, you just tried polarize the conversation with bullshit.

Could you please define declining forests?

Deforestation Myths Debunked by Facts

Basic forestry economics, when combined with industry best practices, protect U.S. forests from over harvest.

www.forest2market.com

Please sight sources for or quantify the "state of our oceans."

You understand there are places that oil literally leaks out of the surface of the earth, and microbes eat it right?

It looks to me like you need to quit reading Vox and Huffiest. And quit trusting google.

Yes Fuckashima, How long was it before anything was going to be able to live around Chernobyl? Whats it look like now?

In the northeast here the forests are crisscrossed with stone walls.........because they used to be cleared fields.

 

[OldSalty2]

Obviously sick animals being drug through a chute, by a tractor, into a slaughter facility, didn't play well in the media during the mad cow days...

Yea, I reckon not. But these aren't diseased or sick, right? Seems they died of heat stroke basically.

 

[lariat]

I would've of been out there, the next morning, pulling ribeyes, tenderloins, and rear legs off all that beef.
It could of been one hell of a BBQ

How long you reckon it would take to do that to one cow without a processing facility? What about ALL the cows as you say?

 

[OldSalty2]

How long you reckon it would take to do that to one cow without a processing facility? What about ALL the cows as you say?

That's what friends are for....

 

[hlee]

Anyone butchered a cow after it’s lain around for a while in 100 deg weather?

 

[hlee]

Took me a couple of hours today butcher a bull elk down sufficiently to pack him out on my back- along with a hunting partner. That was a fresh kill, in the dark, at around freezing temps. Probably take longer to butcher a heat bloated cow. Just accounting for puke time…

 

[supercorndogs]

In the northeast here the forests are crisscrossed with stone walls.........because they used to be cleared fields.

Much of Kansas is the same. A lot of what is covered in trees now used to be grassland that the buffalo kept the trees down on. Likely the indians helped keep the trees down also.

 

[hlee]

Those north eastern forested fields were forests before they were fields. It has been said that when Europeans landed in North America, a squirrel could have gone from Maine to Georgia without ever touching the ground.

 

[buffalowinter]

Longhorns...maintenance free and self-sufficient.

 

[pmclaine]

Those north eastern forested fields were forests before they were fields. It has been said that when Europeans landed in North America, a squirrel could have gone from Maine to Georgia without ever touching the ground.

Yes true but it shows we are not "deforesting" we have "reforested".

I have deer, coyote, turkey, hawks, even a bear at one point, in my town a mere 7-10 miles from Boston.

Shit can't swim down the Cape now without wondering if I will come out of the water in one piece.

Nature is literally clawing its way back.

 

[supercorndogs]

Its really interesting how fast life returned to the volcano scar that was Mt St. Helens.

 

[XikoPlavi]

Well done sir.

Yeah it’s interesting from an outside perspective. The folks that do this kind of work deserve to make out. I mean it’s gotta be hard s work at times

 

[Skeptic1]

It takes a high minded individual to believe that he/she can do anything to effect the climate of this world.

 

[Hobo Hilton]

Curious: you ever butchered a cow? I have.

That thought alone made me tired... Next was the cost involved to set up a processing room... $$$....

 

[Hobo Hilton]

It takes a high minded individual to believe that he/she can do anything to effect the climate of this world.

LOL... All it takes is "Legislation". And we know who is good for that and getting re-elected.

 

[Hobo Hilton]

Actually a touch more, and had a real surprise yesterday; a family friend (also has a cattle operation) has a brother (also a rancher) who bought our entire calf lot, sight unseen. I guess he is getting into the stockers.

Anyway, he'll be over Tuesday to run them across the scales here, and will pay exactly what they'd sell for in OKC (we sell at the National Stockyards). Saves me a trip and diesel...actually two trips as I had three culls (small calves) that I'd have to sell separately in McAlester).

Here is a photo of what they weighed at ~8 months, and after 30 days weaned. It was taken about three weeks ago. I figure a rough estimate of $1050/heifer and 1200/steer right now (on average), but I haven't checked the futures at all. Average weights the last group were 683/heifer and 721/steer at ~9 months.

My last weight and Average Daily Gain (ADG). With my wife being a Veterinarian, we do stuff like hire a feed consultant etc... However, our calves put on weight really well.
View attachment 7894332

Here's last week's prices on feeders. We always sell at or near max, but average will give you a decent idea per head.
View attachment 7894333

I read your posting earlier, went and did some chores while I pondered... You just described some very bold moves (you as the seller and a buyer taking calves unseen). I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the future, not just in the cattle arena. What do you see happening in the next 12 months?

 

[skinney_7]

So do you make more or less than -38000$ of of them. You say calves so I assume less. Just curious

You're not "making" 38K off of 38 feeders, no one is. Factor in vet costs (vaccines and antibiotics) roughly, 7-8.00 per hd, then back grounding cost of 2.50 or more per hd per day, maybe more now with feed/fuel cost, and if you want to equate it properly, you need to factor in the cost of pasture, pre-weaning... up here is it roughly 60.00 per pair per month, sometimes more, factor in trucking to the auction, factor in the auction fees. Do the math on that and your 15K under your mark. But, but, but my calves are all organic, well you're probably either a hobby farm, or you're losing a shit ton more per hd to sickness.

 

[diggler1833]

I read your posting earlier, went and did some chores while I pondered... You just described some very bold moves (you as the seller and a buyer taking calves unseen). I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the future, not just in the cattle arena. What do you see happening in the next 12 months?

Just to clarify in case my previous post misled; the buyer is the brother of a guy who has been friends with my family for ~40 years. We are all several generations in cattle, and everyone has seen everyone else's stock...we've actually used a bull from the family friend before and he was flat out awesome in every way (pictured below).

^ I replaced him this year with a new bullet out of Quaker Hill's Rampage. That one wasn't cheap. He's still not fully filled out yet, but here is his dad (sire) below.

I run three bulls at any one time on 90 head, so I'm not a large operation.

I do sell a few replacement heifers every year too, and developing a reputation as being straight up as well as not selling junk helps. It doesn't matter the breed or cross, if a guy screws over a fellow local...he's just shooting himself in the foot. I actually don't make anything extra on my replacements, I just save a little here and there on fuel costs as maybe I can run a smaller second trailer to market.

We're in the third generation now of the ranch (me). Honestly, most cattle operations are not going to be profitable enough to make a living. I'm retired military, and my wife is a Veterinarian...so we just use the cattle as a way to keep our equipment new and running, as well as cover the overhead. The biggest benefit is that the tractors all have enclosed cabs and A/C.

Some guys run the cheapest operations possible...sale barn cows, no vaccinations, not weaning calves until they take them to market...eventually we will see more restrictions placed on meat, and requirements to track where it came from. When that happens, you'll see that type of operation shut down, and even more small operations drop out.

I don't really know where the market is headed. There will always be one, but I think you'll see two definate groups grow more - the smaller operations that sell to individuals, and the huge oligarchy that controls what shows up for what price at the grocery store chains.

This is a long subject, sorry if I glossed over a lot.

 

[OkieMike]

I would have to hunt for the source but I read somewhere that these cattle were transplanted from MO shortly before.

If they were pastured and consumed endophyte infected fescue then vasoconstriction is a concern... It leaves them less able to shed the heat.

Is it true? I don't know. But it could be a possibility.

Mike

 

[Hobo Hilton]

Just to clarify in case my previous post misled; the buyer is the brother of a guy who has been friends with my family for ~40 years. We are all several generations in cattle, and everyone has seen everyone else's stock...we've actually used a bull from the family friend before and he was flat out awesome in every way (pictured below).

View attachment 7895066

^ I replaced him this year with a new bullet out of Quaker Hill's Rampage. That one wasn't cheap. He's still not fully filled out yet, but here is his dad (sire) below.

View attachment 7895083

I run three bulls at any one time on 90 head, so I'm not a large operation.

I do sell a few replacement heifers every year too, and developing a reputation as being straight up as well as not selling junk helps. It doesn't matter the breed or cross, if a guy screws over a fellow local...he's just shooting himself in the foot. I actually don't make anything extra on my replacements, I just save a little here and there on fuel costs as maybe I can run a smaller second trailer to market.

We're in the third generation now of the ranch (me). Honestly, most cattle operations are not going to be profitable enough to make a living. I'm retired military, and my wife is a Veterinarian...so we just use the cattle as a way to keep our equipment new and running, as well as cover the overhead. The biggest benefit is that the tractors all have enclosed cabs and A/C.

Some guys run the cheapest operations possible...sale barn cows, no vaccinations, not weaning calves until they take them to market...eventually we will see more restrictions placed on meat, and requirements to track where it came from. When that happens, you'll see that type of operation shut down, and even more small operations drop out.

I don't really know where the market is headed. There will always be one, but I think you'll see two definate groups grow more - the smaller operations that sell to individuals, and the huge oligarchy that controls what shows up for what price at the grocery store chains.

This is a long subject, sorry if I glossed over a lot.

I'm in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana and I am seeing a mirror image of the conditions / future that you have described. When I talk with cattle people here, it is a long story. Some ranch and operate farm supply stores to get by. They can't even get treated wood fence post for the farm supply stores. Inventory this year appears to be about half of what it was last year. We are fortunate to have one local packing house that sells to the public. Universities here have set up some portable packing trailers to teach and encourage the smaller packing operations.

Montana Farmers Union and Northern teaming up in unique venture

Montana Farmers Union has announced it is partnering with Montana State University-Northern to develop the country’s first-ever meat processing curriculum, which will teach meat processing from harvest to retail. Montana Farmers Union received a $150,000 Montana Meat Processing Infrastructure...

www.havredailynews.com

Meat processing program continues to grow at MCC

MILES CITY, Mont. – In partnership with the Montana Farm Bureau Federation and the Montana Meat Processors Association, Miles Community College (MCC) has been working on building and establishing a

www.agupdate.com