While the media focuses on the size of Sen. Ted Cruz’s carry-on bag, the real suffering across America due to dangerously low temperatures gets less coverage. Yet, a few stories are appearing, such as this startling article in Bloomberg:
“It’s So Cold on the Plains That Calves’ Ears Are Falling Off”
The article explains:
In Arkansas, ranchers are fitting pantyhose over the heads of calves in a desperate attempt to keep them warm. In Montana, they’ve been duct-taping calves’ ears to their necks to stop them from falling off. In Oklahoma, newborns arrived onto snow-packed frozen ground and perished while ranchers were reportedly sticking the hardest-hit animals in the front seat of pickup trucks and even inside their homes.
Across the American Plains, South and Southwest, the unprecedented cold of this past week has been brutal on millions of residents. For the flora and fauna—as well as those who make their living cultivating them—it’s been equally disastrous, a Darwinian mix of outlandish and gruesome.
The article goes on to describe farmers’ struggling to keep up with caring for the animals. One farmer lost two calves that were born in the snow and froze to death. This loss of animals will ultimately affect consumers.
The weather woes, in addition to killing some young animals, will slow the rate of weight gains in cattle as they use energy to stay warm. Lighter animals will mean smaller supplies later this year, a time when consumers already were expected to be paying higher prices for meat due to soaring animal feed prices.
Let’s remember these farmers the next time activists claim farmers intentionally hurt animals or don’t care for the welfare of their herds. They do and they must if they are going to save their own farms and continue to provide affordable food products to Americans who have no idea what it takes to care for farm animals.