Frozen in Place: Louisiana Livestock Producers Suffer In Cold Spell
Calves killed by cold weather in West Carroll Parish.
By Kristen Oaks-White and Neil Melancon
Louisiana Farm Bureau News
In terms of a disaster, this is a Category 5 for Louisiana livestock producers.
Mother Nature delivered a one-two punch with back-to-back winter storms dumping unprecedented amounts of snow, sleet and freezing rain with record-low temperatures across parts of Louisiana this week.
Ranchers are scrambling to keep livestock alive during the historic winter storm, with the frigid conditions already killing some cattle and chickens.
West Carroll Parish cattleman Cullen Kovac said he’s lost more than 30 newborn calves due to the freezing temperatures since Sunday.
“Yesterday we lost 16 calves and saved one,” Kovac said. “Just a rough estimate over the past few days--we’re losing about 94% of the calves that are being born, and that’s pretty much been the case since Sunday night.”
Like many other cattle ranchers, Kovac said his herd is in the middle of calving season, and this storm hit at the worst possible time.
“Everywhere we’re calving, we’re unrolling hay to help them try to make it through the cold,” Kovac said. “They can either eat it or lay on it to stay warm, but the temperature is just so brutally cold. We’re just not prepared for this at all.”
Ranchers are working around the clock to save their herds by putting calves in pickups, barns and bathtubs full of warm water to warm the newborns and bring their body temperatures back up to normal.
“I’ve got six full-time hands,” Kovac said. “And if we can get to them in time, we can get them in the barn, dried off, warmed up and fed, that’s our best chance to save them. But most of the time, those will likely be orphan calves because the mother won’t take them back after we’ve had our hands on them.”
Kovac said this storm has been catastrophic for his operation.
“The only thing I could compare it to in farming, is if you have a field full of soybeans ready to harvest, and a category 4 or 5 hurricane comes in and wipes them out. That’s the only thing I can compare this to,” said Kovac. “That’s what this is for us right now. It’s a mess.”
The disaster is still on-going for much of North Louisiana and is not limited to cattle. Jason Holmes, regional livestock specialist with the LSU AgCenter said chicken houses across Louisiana have collapsed under the weight of snow and ice.
Part of the roof of this poultry house collapsed under the weight of the ice and snow in Ouachita Parish.
”Some of these newer tunnel ventilation houses are meant to move air down a house. They’re not meant for weight-bearing,” Holmes said. “So with the amount of ice and then a lot of wet snow on top of it, these houses are just crumbling.”
Holmes said chickens are dying after being exposed to the cold and the frozen roads are compounding the issue.
“If the plant can get catch-out crews to them, they can salvage some of the birds,” he said. “That’s the issue right now. Our roads are a mess. It’s kind of like whenever tornadoes hit the area, they’ll salvage what they can in terms of the birds and the rest will be euthanized on site. It’s not a good situation.”
Another issue is one of infrastructure. Marty Wooldridge of Oil City has spent most of his time delivering hay and water to cows in the few fields that are ice-free. He knows he’s lost some, but has no idea how many.
“We’ve lost some newborns that we know of,” Wooldridge said. “We’re out looking for survivors, but we also know we’ve lost some of our older cattle. This is one of the most extreme situations we can go through. We’re burning probably double the amount of hay than normal on these cows right now.
In nearby Shreveport, the intakes at Caddo Lake have frozen, severely impacting the water supply. Steam-heated hospitals have had to truck in water to keep patients alive. For Wooldridge, it means bringing water to cows that freezes over every 10 minutes.
Cattle gather in front of Cullen Kovac’s tractor in West Carroll Parish.
“We went to -1 on Tuesday morning. Some of our tractors have the diesel being gelled and won’t crank,” he added. “I know it’s not a hurricane, but we’re running out of water and supplies, while it’s too cold to go out and do much.”
Louisiana Farm Bureau Livestock Committee Chair Amelia Kent said every livestock producer in the state has been affected by this storm. Kent herself is a livestock producer in East Feliciana Parish.
“The inclement weather has hindered our abilities to go out to care for our livestock,” she said. “We are fighting ground that is already saturated, but now covered in ice and/or snow. Ensuring our animals have enough hay, protein and energy has been especially challenging in these conditions. We’re just not equipped for this kind of cold weather, and most of the animals are not acclimated for such either.”
For many ranchers, their herds are more than animals— they’re a part of their lives, and their livelihoods are on the line. One calf lost could mean a hit to their income. The animals they can save could end up costing them financially in the long run.
“We’re giving each calf a bag of colostrum and the ones that can’t go back to their momma, we’re bottle feeding them milk replacer,” said Kovac. “Bottle feeding calves until they are ready to sell is extremely costly, and it’s just a losing proposition.”
As for financial aid, the Livestock Indemnity Program through the USDA and other disaster relief programs could help. But these programs have to be triggered by a certain loss threshold, and they are limited. Poultry, for instance, is not covered.
Andy Brown, associate commodity director with the Louisiana Farm Bureau, said the LFBF Commodity Department is already working to help bring long-term assistance.
“WHIP+ covers snowstorms in the instance that a disaster is declared, but it is not a continuous farm bill-backed program,” Brown said. “It’s an ad-hoc disaster package that requires Congressional action. So, Farm Bureau can, and is, helping in those areas by making sure that Governor John Bel Edwards and the White House know the situation and the needs of farmers, and then will work more long term with congress to try and find some additional assistance.”
While the government-funded programs are helpful, they’re often a long time in coming.
In the meantime, broken water pipes and the mental strain of yet another disaster in Louisiana are taking a toll.
“This week has been physically draining, mentally draining, emotionally draining,” Kovac said. "I’m just exhausted in every possible way.”