Heather Smith Thomas
Severe flooding in Nebraska and Iowa in March (following winter storms and snow melt) created a disaster of epic proportions, with horrendous livestock losses, damage to property and destruction of feed supplies. Livestock losses are continuing, with health issues still a problem in some of the surviving cattle. Dr. Richard Porter, a veterinarian at the Porter Ridge Veterinary Clinic in Ashland, Neb., said that after a disaster of this magnitude, there are many challenges at once; farmers and ranchers are overwhelmed when trying to address them. “People wonder what to do, where to start, and yet we don’t always know what will be needed until later. The stress factor (for the ranchers and the animals alike) is hard to measure, along with the losses,” he said. “Up north of us, on the Niobrara River, one rancher got his cows out of the way of the flood but the floodwater killed all the bulls that he had for sale; they were caught in a pen where they could not get away. A person can’t deal with everything at once, and the losses have been heartbreaking,” Porter said...Just because an animal survived doesn’t mean that it will be ok. “The cow, horse, pig or sheep didn’t freeze to death in the winter storm, or starve to death, and didn’t drown in the subsequent flooding, but now has a compromised immune system. When you put any animal under that much duress and stress, there will be ramifications, even though the results may not show up for weeks or months, or next fall when ranchers pregnancy-check and find a lot of cows open. Cows may not have been able to cycle and breed, or bulls may not have been as fertile,” he said. There are many factors that take a toll. As months go by, some of these animals that have been in the water and mud will have various foot problems. “We are (and will be) seeing a lot of foot rot, ulcers, heel cankers and some weird things just because those animals had to stand in the mud for so long and could not dry out,” Porter said...MORE
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