Posted on 06/20/2022 12:40:36 AM PDT by surroundedbyblue
I know that video clip going around looks awful, but let me give some context here.
There has been extreme heat and humidity in Western Kansas and cattle have died. This is normal, and 10,000 head total statewide is not a “mass die-off that will cripple the beef supply.” Not even close.
There are roughly six million cattle in Kansas. Of those, over two million are “on feed” in confinement feedlots in the western half of the state.
In the former United States, something like 125,000 head of cattle are slaughtered per day, Monday through Friday, with a reduced kill on Saturday. So, as you can see, 10,000 deads in a heatwave is statistically insignificant.
The cattle shown in the video were not on pasture, they were in a confinement feedlot, as we can see by their size and the reportage says “fat cattle”. That means: in the feedlot approaching slaughter weight. They were not on ranches, grazing. They were in feedlots. Standing on dirt, in fenced pens, eating grain (corn) and drinking water from feed troughs all day every day. These cattle hadn’t seen a ranch, or eaten a blade of grass, in months.
The reported “epicenter” of this heat event was Ulysses, KS. That’s my old stomping grounds, and I would take a spitball guess that within a 100 mile radius of Ulysses, KS there are close to a million cattle on feed in confinement feedlots, maybe more.
So 10,000 deads, statewide, really isn’t a “massive die-off”.
In the video, what you are seeing is cattle that died in the pen of heat stress, and the feedlot has used loaders to move the carcasses out of the pens, in preparation for burial.
(Excerpt) Read more at barnhardt.biz ...
There’s also a podcast episode discussing the same topic
https://www.barnhardt.biz/2022/06/18/barnhardt-podcast-175-10000-is-that-all/
>> Excellent info from someone who knows cattle
It’s just one report. Selling it doesn’t improve its veracity.
Sounds like all cattle and no hat, for a welcome change.
BM
Meanwhile, beef prices reach the stratosphere...not that the 10,000 dead would have made any difference...
These days a lot of rural people are in the same boat.
Wow, I was not going to read the article and was just going to post, ‘Let me guess, I bet the writer will say This is normal, nothing to see here.’ But for some reason decided to actually open the article first and in the first few sentences the phrase ‘This is normal’ is right there!
This is why I have stopped reading the crap aricles posted on this site. It is all so predictable.
I think what is predictable is that there are a group of FReepers that push articles from questionable sources in an effort to drive page views to those sources.
I don't want to get all crunchy-granola here, but THIS is EXACTLY why I endeavor to get my meat directly from independent farmers. I have no problem with God's Will of man being at the top of the food chain, and agribusiness is preferable to state socialism. But the grain diet, and chemical releases in the animal from stress has got to result in grade C meat. And while PETA is a borderline terrorist organization, I don't have to subsidize this sort of harvesting operation.
Going further, the degradation of the food chain has likely spawned a great many food allergies in children and even adults. We NEVER had a problem with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches 30 years ago - now if the peanuts don't kill 5% of the kids, the gluten will mess up a bigly number of the remainder. Welcome to the intersection of separating farming from the consumer and drugging the citizenry.
During the pandemic when store shelves grew bare, many Americans started frequenting their local farmers. They were able to secure quarter to half cows and other meats and goodies direct from these backbones of civilization. For many Americans, it was eye-opening. For those of us who'd been doing this for a while, it was (dare I say) rewarding and affirming. My farmer said many of these noobs went back to the stores, but many remained as loyal customers.
Big Pharma and Big Cattle have themselves at the top of the food chain, not me. I've "met" my dinner, and seen what it's life is like. I sleep better and, hopefully, get a few more years on Earth. I pay more, but eating these fattened animals doesn't seem in line with God's plan...or a healthy lifestyle.
Did they not have water? Couple of days without water would do it.
Were they a breed more fit for cool weather that maybe should have been sent to a feed lot further North?
It wasn’t that hot for that long. Texas Longhorn have to walk all day with no shade in extreme heat because the forage is so thin but they can handle that. Other breeds? Not so much.
You would think some reporter could find the feed lot owner and interview them to get the answer.
Veterinarians work to quash misinformation about SW Kansas cattle deaths
I call today's commercial farming MIA for monoculture industrialized agriculture. MIA is most likely responsible for many of the problems that you mentioned. It will certainly be responsible for the next famine because variety develops disease resistance.
It is not a long-term healthy situation when 98% of the grain grown is a handful of hybrid high yield varieties, when 98% of the laying hens are Leghorns and 98% of the dairy cattle are Holsteins.
It’s funny; when you actually know something about a subject the media is pressing, you see how poorly the story has been researched and how many misunderstandings are in it.
Unfortunately, too few of us know about all the stories out there....
Exactly. Big Food (encompassing all highly-processed pre-packaged stuff as well as industrial farming) is literally killing us. And what doesn’t kill us keeps us sick, weak, and stupid.
What you call a “crap article” is a blog post from a woman who knows this industry. There are bullcrap artists all around, on all sides of every issue, and to have someone who actually knows what they’re talking about point out error would, I think, be a welcome relief for most FReeprs
But then I find that some people just lack critical thinking and like being told how to feel about a topic.
Yep.
People have their radar up because there are indeed real supply chain shortages and a looming food crisis.
But this “10,000 dead cattle” story is a non-story, as the author of the piece clearly demonstrates.
I see that some FReepers though wanna cling to conspiracy stories instead of thinking critically thru a situation to get to actual truth.
very helpful and comforting.
I watched a YouTube video from a guy out there who basically said the same thing. Its not a conspiracy.
I also get all my eggs from local farms and fortunately I pass by a few egg stands coming from work so it's easy to do and during summer months, they will often toss local grown produce out there. Even in middle of winter though, I can find some local farm eggs. They will cost $3-5 a dozen, much more expensive than supermarket eggs, but there is a huge difference.
With seafood, insist on wild caught and never get any seafood like salmon or shrimp farm-raised. Again, more money, but much tastier and healthier.
Butter instead of margarine.
Olive or Avocado oil instead of vegetable oil.
Full fat instead of "low fat" (i.e. with yogurts)
Unsalted nuts for snacks (and even raw)
Vegetables and fruits in season and locally grown
I can think of a few other healthy eating tips but that's a good start for anybody to follow if they want to wean themselves off mass-produced overly-processed foods.
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