California heat kills 25,000 cattle: official

10/08/2006

Central California between Bakersfield and Redding is home to approximately 2.5 million cattle. Roughly 25000 died because of the triple-digit temperatures since July 14 according to Andy Zylstra president of the California Dairy Campaign.

The timing is horrendous he told AFP. The price of milk is down 30 percent while feed fuel electricity prices are all up and now we have these tremendous losses. It's just a kick in the head. The losses amount to 1500 to 2500 dollars per head. Milk production in central California is also down.

Tulare-based Land O' Lakes Creamery normally produces 1.6 million gallons (6.0 million liters) of milk daily. The company has been reporting losses of 400000 gallons (1.1 million liters) a day according to Zylstra.

Disposal of the cattle creates another economic drain on strapped dairy farmers and the sheer numbers of carcasses heading to the rendering plants has forced some counties to declare a state of emergency. Normally outlawed as a disposal method in California many of the dead cattle are buried in landfills or composted on site.