Giant burial pits have been dug in the Black Hills of South Dakota-- for cattle lost in a surprise snowstorm 10 days ago.
As many as 100,000 head are feared dead and financial losses may be as high as $1.25 million dollars. The federal government shutdown has only made things worse.
Nothing could prepare Scott Reder and his wife, Angela, for what the melting snow has revealed.
There were places where there were dead cows for as far as the eye could see
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That's just $12.50 a head.This article wasn't proof read before publishing.Even factoring in the calves the price would average at least $500 per head.
ReplyDeleteBack around the mid 1950's my dad, a dairy & crop farmer bought 24 head of registered holsteins to double his milking operation. It was in the winter and they were moved in the back of a closed body truck with a tarp over the back. I can't remember how far to our farm? So they went from a warm barn into a cold truck and miles before going back into a warm barn again. The majority of them got phenomena and died. I remember them laying all over the field and dad having to drag them with a tractor to the woods. He cut timber during the winter months during the day and drug it out with mules. Those cattle cost him $300 a head. He always saved for what he bought, never borrowed, even to this day, and he's 85 years old. As a kid, even I could feel his despair. There wasn't any insurance or government help back then. Today our country is full of piss ant crybabies, all with their soft little paws outstretched. All farmers back then were in the same boat, real men, American farmers, where work was never finished, never done, always more to do tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThey don't have barns in S.D. or what?
ReplyDelete