Dangerous Heat Stress Expected on Cattle Mid-Week

 

With high pressure firmly in place over the Southeast for the next week, we can expect to see temperatures and heat stress rise to dangerous levels. This will affect both outdoor workers and livestock. Producers will want to keep careful track of worsening conditions and take appropriate actions to reduce the effects of the combination of high heat and humidity. You can see the 7-day forecast for the Southeast at https://www.ars.usda.gov/plains-area/clay-center-ne/marc/docs/heat-stress/main/. The link also takes you to a page with information on how to recognize heat stress in cattle and take protective action. Note that this is an updated link from what I published in this blog a few years ago.

 

Video: Episode 115: Home on the Range

We look at how high crop prices, driven in part by rising global food demand, biofuel incentives, and risk perspective and management, are encouraging the conversion of marginal grasslands into cultivated cropland. As more hay and pastureland is turned over to crop production, wildlife habitat becomes increasingly fragmented, leaving isolated “islands” of grass that may be too small to sustain functioning grassland ecosystems. We explore research using Alberta as a case study to understand the impact that conversion of hay and pasturelands into cropland could have on ecosystem intactness and biodiversity.