Livestock being frozen to death in their thousands

thescotsman.scotsman.com ^ | Jan. 7, 2010 | FRANK URQUHART, ALASTAIR DALTON AND MARK SMITH

[Free ThinkerNY]

THOUSANDS of farm animals face being frozen to death as Scotland experiences its worst winter weather in almost 50 years, farmers have warned.

As heavy snow brought more chaos to Scotland yesterday, upland sheep farmers in particular feared that their flocks could be killed as a result of the longest cold spell to hit Scotland's agricultural industry for decades.

The prolonged Arctic blast is now the worst seen in Scotland since 1963, according to First Minister Alex Salmond, who praised workers for keeping key roads open, despite widespread anger that many roads and pavements remain ungritted.

The cold spell is now threatening the lives of thousands of farm animals across the country.

Upland sheep farmers fear that their flocks could be killed as a result of deep snow. Those in hilly areas of the country, where snow drifts are already up to 4ft deep, are finding it increasingly difficult to get vital feed to their herds of cows and flocks of sheep.

Pat Withers, the chief executive of the National Farmers' Union of Scotland, told The Scotsman: "We have some fields where farmers are looking out and can't get to their flocks. They can just see the heads of their sheep poking up above the snow. One more snowfall there – and a bit of wind picking up – and they will lose them."

[irishtenor]

GLOBAL WARMING ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[whatisthetruth]

Somebody pls contact Gore to go over there and give his patented Global Warming lecture (without any followup questions of course), that’ll surely help the farmers understand and cope with their unwarranted weather-phobic fears.

[diamond6]

The day after tomorrow.

[ottbmare]

I’m puzzled. Didn’t they see the forecasts and know this was coming, so they could bring the flocks down closer? Do they not have tractors, etc. so they can get through the snow and bring feed to their flocks? In Colorado and the rest of the American West, where the average snowfall is twelve feet annually, ranchers get hay to their herds. I see it; I have taken part in the effort myself. There are times when it’s more difficult but they don’t say, “We are going to let our herd flounder in four feet of snow;” they push through with the heavy machinery and drag a round bale out to them.

Something must be different in Scottish farming techniques.

[eyedigress]

If only Al Gore could have started his BS in the 70's. He could now take credit for the smart car and the overwhelming but much needed "Cap and Tax" legislation to curb global warming.

"Some refining of the equation is in order, but we're on the right track"

[mplsconservative]

Heartbreaking! Poor animals and the farmers who depend on them for a livelihood.

I hope AlGore rots for his lies and his plan to ruin the rest of us, for his gain, fails.

[ican'tbelieveit]

There are times in the West that the National Guard is called in to help ranchers feed their cattle. I suppose these farmers will need similar assistance.

[AliVeritas]

Oh no, God bless them.

So when does Gore, Mann, Jones and the other liars appear before the Int’l Criminal Court?

My bad, since Hilda Solis (communist), just shelled out huge money (ours), for ‘green jobs’.

[eyedigress]

I recall the horses in Nevada being air-dropped hay.

[weston]

How cold will it have to get before the “warmers” admit they were wrong?

[eyedigress]

The left NEVER admits a mistake.

[ican'tbelieveit]

When I was a child, in the 70s, the NG had to drop food in to us and our cattle. Was a bad winter. In 2006, the NG dropped food for cattle over CO and NM.

[eyedigress]

I have seen the extremes and they are no different now than they were then. To politicize the weather is the “coup d’etat”. God controls the weather. Ask the insurance company.

[pissant]

Paging Algore and his 1/2 breed beeyatch Obama

[elisheba]

The only sheepfarmers I know are in the midwest, and they provide sheds for their sheep with straw on the floor in the winter. Also locate the shed so that you can get to it in bad weather. That does not seem to be as common in Scotland (the article implies, and in one place states, that the sheep are exposed to the elements) which is most unfortunate. Usually a shed is all you need (I think), but you can provide heaters if the ewes are lambing.

[the invisib1e hand]

in their thousands

I didn't know scots had the same trouble with english that indians have.

[justa-hairyape]

An article on Bloomberg just stated that Corn and Wheat prices may rise due to the cold weather here in the US. Apparently, livestock require more food in colder weather. Bloomberg cannot be excerpted. So one can assume that the increase demand for food is also severely affecting the UK farmers. In Scotland this is the worse winter since 1963 (about the time the Beatles released their first record).

[blam]

Please Please Me was the Beatles first album, released on March 22, 1963 in the UK. (Ten of its fourteen songs were recorded on the same day.) An edited version was released in the US later that year, and retitled Introducing the Beatles.

Songs in this album included:

Anna
Ask Me Why
Baby its You
Boy
Chains
Do you want to know a Secret?
I Saw her Standing there
Love me Do
Misery
Please Please Me
PS I Love You
A Taste of Honey
Theres a Place
Twist and Shout

"Love Me Do" made the Top Twenty for one week late in 1962 then vanished from the charts. Manager Brian Epstein personally bought 10,000 copies, to give the band a hit; he didn't realize that they would have to sell that many every week, to stay in the charts. Industry people caught on quickly, and it nearly ruined the band's credibility. The album included their first two singles, plus the B-sides (though "Love Me Do" was an alternate take).

[Freedom56v2]

Problem, everywhere ALGore goes, there seems to be a severe snow storm that immediately precedes or follows his appearance. Scotland doesn’t need any more snow....