There is a new blog post out at the Southern Plains Perspective. Read below! The Southern Plains Perspective is authored by Clay Pope- who farms with his wife Sarah and is a contractor for the USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub in the area of outreach.
Extreme weather continues making headlines in the region. Are we giving enough thought on how to get ready for it?
“Heat, humidity kills hundreds of US cattle during world’s hottest month.”
That was the headline from the first story that popped up on my computer this morning when I started searching for topics to write about. The article went on to talk about how hundreds of cattle died in Iowa from extreme heat and humidity in late July 2023—what now is being touted as the world’s hottest recorded month ever.
As of this writing, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is reporting that it received requests on July 31 to dispose of approximately 370 cows that died due to heat in western Iowa. The article also stated that the Kanas Department of Health and Environment said that it had received requests for the disposal of 50 head of cattle that died due to the heat—a far cry from the over 2,000 head that died from an extreme heat wave (and the lack of wind) in June of 2022—but a sizeable one-month number none the less.
This article was followed by another story describing a recent presentation made by Dr. Amanda Silva, small grains extension specialist from Oklahoma State University, about the 2023 wheat crop. Silva said this year has been extremely challenging for winter wheat in Oklahoma. According to Dr. Silva there were issues with drought almost the entire season until harvest when there was too much moisture.
“That was the longest harvest we have had in a long time in the program,” Silva was quoted as saying.
Moving further south, I came across an article that asked in big, bold type, “Is the current drought in Central Texas worse than the disastrous one of 2011?” It seems that the city of Austin has dealt with 28 straight days of 100-degree-plus weather. This sets a record that beats the previous string of 27 consecutive days of 100 degree or more weather that was set in the horrible, horrible drought year of 2011 and there appears to be no let-up in sight.
If all that isn’t enough, consider what’s going on in the High Plains of Texas because it’s just as strange. Lubbock and its surrounding area received over 130% of its normal rainfall in May and June while the Panhandle received over 200% of normal precipitation. This helped keep the region slightly cooler than the rest of the state at the start of the summer and free from drought. Now, however, heat waves are sapping the moisture from the ground.
“Unless some rainfall appears soon, these high-temperature anomalies will increase through the end of July,” said Victor Murphy with the National Weather Service (Mr. Murphy is often a guest on our podcast—if you are interested you hear past episodes with him here). According to Victor, the average low nighttime temperature for Lubbock this month has been 71.2 degrees Fahrenheit, about 2.4 degrees warmer than normal, making it the ninth-warmest period on record. This is leading to concerns about how crops and livestock aren’t getting relief from the heat at night.
He goes on to say that this warming trend is being seen nationwide. In the last 30 days, there have been more than 2,800 times a city or town’s coolest nighttime temperature was hotter than previous records.
“One of the prevailing wisdoms with climate change is that the biggest impact, at least initially, will be felt in warmer nighttime temperatures,” Murphy said. “It’s especially difficult on cattle and livestock, they have a difficult time cooling off at night.”
So, what does this all mean?
It means that the crazy weather we have always seen on the Southern Plains has been shot full of steroids. It means that we need to take seriously the advice that we have been hearing for years now to prepare for extreme weather swings that are becoming more and more prevalent as our climate changes. We need to consider “hardening” our farming and ranching operation to extreme weather by implementing management practices that help us hold on to more water when we do get heavy rains (while also controlling soil erosion). These same practices also allow us a cushion of additional soil moisture to better weather extended dry periods. We also need to consider what changes we can make to better prepare our livestock for stress from extreme heat and cold. Your local USDA Service Center can help you with suggestions on what steps you can take and what funding might be available to help you make changes. You can also touch base with the extension service in your state for tips and suggestions. The news about crazy weather just keeps coming. We have to do all we can to be ready.
