Up to 1,500 head of cattle have died across South Dakota from the prolonged excessive heat. Reports are still coming in and the state veterinarian says those numbers could rise. We went Estelline Tuesday where one farmer lost hundreds of cattle to the heat. This ranch has been in Roland Rust's family his whole life. He says the destruction this heat's causing is unprecedented. Roland says, "we've had cattle like this for decades and never had much trouble." Monday Morning Roland says his animals seemed fine, but things turned fast. He says, "there was several dead right by the water tank." Soon those several turned to several hundred, that's when Roland asked the Estelline Fire Department to come spray water on the cattle, a tough choice. He says, "the real hot ones, you'd just kill them and we probably did kill some, but we probably saved a bunch," But the hundreds who've died were about ready for market, meaning a loss of thousands and thousands of dollars for the Rusts. Roland says, "well, i'm 62, we won't make this back." For the Rust family, it's about more than the loss of money, he says the animals are like family and they've formed a strong emotional attachment. Roland says, "my neighbors were crying as they came by this morning to see it and to tell you the truth, I had to cry a few times too."...more
Here's the KSFY video report:
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