NORTH DAKOTA: Livestock losses expected to top 90,000

Doug Bichler, of rural Linton, is counting his neighbors' dead livestock by day and his own by night. Bichler is the Emmons County extension agent, whose unhappy job it is this spring to take calls from ranchers who've lost livestock. He has added his own 14 dead calves — 10 percent of his entire calf "crop" — to the running tally he's keeping. Across the state, livestock deaths from a harsh winter followed by record flooding are adding up. The Farm Service Agency and county emergency boards estimate more than 90,000 calves and adult cattle have died so far due to weather conditions. Additionally, an estimated 180 horses and nearly 3,000 head of other livestock have perished...Bismarck Tribune