b'Cowgirl With A PenFEEDLOTSBy Naomi LoomisPlease follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @thecirclelranchVisit our website at thecirclelranch.com and send any comments to Loomis489@yahoo.com. I would love hearing from you.S o last month we talked about branding as one of myand wind, and it cooling off at night, to being tossed in anor shaded area in the pens because it\'s just too windy for favorite times of the year but the second part of ranchingenvironment close to the humidity and temperature of athat. It\'s the windiest part of the country with average wind thats my favorite time of the year is when I see the truckssauna with no airflow and it not cooling off. Sounds a littlespeeds of 14mph and shelters would just be ripped to shreds. roll up and I get to put our calves on the truck and everybodyuncomfortable, right? Now say you\'re wearing leather (whichThey didn\'t want to spray down the animals as it\'d just raise is like Oh really Naomi, your calves are leaving you. Andreally, cattle literally are) and are in extreme hot temperaturesthe humidity, which was already a major contributing factor I get it, theyre like teenagers that are going on and theyrewith no break. Normally temperatures go down at nightto the deaths. The decisions they made were all to save the so much bigger. Theres a bigger mission beyond the Circlebut this time they didn\'t. There was no break from the heatcattle. They also learned from them and are better prepared L Ranch for my calves and so when theand alleviation or recovery time forfor the future. We all make mistakes. We are all human. truck pulls up and I put them on thethe cattle. Cattle are tough.but theyThey\'ve lost cattle since but have also saved infinitely more truck, I have to thank God for giving mearen\'t that tough. I\'ve personallythanks to their hard work.the opportunity to raise a family. Youtried to help cattle survive during know, they have a marriage that we allextended high temperatures after theyFeedlots such as Cattle Empire, who custom raises 51,000 support something that is going to helphad acclimated to cool weather. Justcattle, work closely with veterinarians and nutritionists to the next person in line. like our farms are designed for ourbe able to provide the best care possible. They are designed climate the area the cattle in Kansasto be able to be the optimal living conditions for cattle. Dr. I know that when that calf gets to thelive in is designed for their climate, notMurphy, the nutritionist Cattle Empire works with, takes into next step of his life, which is in thefor freak weather conditions - it justconsideration the amount of water troughs and amount of feedlot, that Ive completed a job with allisn\'t feasible to be ready for any andfeed bunk space per pen to decide the best number of cattle those long hours and sleepless nights. Iall weather. You know what though?to put in each pen. In no way are they overcrowded - they know that Im going to feed somebody.Everyone tried their absolute hardesthave plenty of space. Would this have happened if the cattle Its a feeling that I cant really explainto save the cattle and yet, the farmershad been on pasture instead? It most likely would have made because it gives me goose bumps but itand ranchers are being blamed for it.no difference. Cattle in feedlots are mature, butcher weight really is something like, Wow, weveThey are being told they weren\'t andor close to it. Cattle that are at peak weights like that are lived through it and were ready to doaren\'t good enough.when they didat more risk for heat stress than the average animal, as fat it again. When those calves go to theeverything they could. That this is justmeans they retain heat. They\'d struggle no matter where they feedlot, theyre about 500 pounds to 600another conspiracy theory and excuselived.Do they know it was heat stress? Dr. Barnhardt said, pounds. The brand on them is a proudto raise food prices. "This was a widespread event. The cattle that were alive were thing. Its like hey, those cattle cameshowing obvious symptoms of heat stress. When animals from the Circle L, and theyre on to feed the world. Cattle Empire, one of the several feedlots affected by the heat,die in heat conditions the interior temperature becomes so is owned by Trista Brown Priest. The county they are in is thehigh that the organs become liquid, it becomes useless to Yeah its intense and it makes me feels so good. Its a rewardsecond most cattle populated county in the USA. There areperform a necropsy in the sense of sending off samples to a that I dont know how to explain. Maybe like if you found a2,400,000 cattle in the state of Kansas, so with an estimatedlaboratory. What I can tell you is that we utilize our expertise $100 bill when you were on your last penny and you feel that10,000 head lost throughout the state it\'s actually a very lowand observation of both live and dead cattle to come to our God just knew and placed it there. You know your hard workmortality rate considering the events that took place. conclusions. Live cattle exhibiting signs of heat stress, dead really does pay off and you know it is for the right reasons.cattle in patterns of heat stress (seeking shade, near water You get butterflies in your stomach, its amazing. They had no measurable moisture from December 2021 tanks, looks as if fell over dead while walking, black hided, to June 6, 2022 at which point they received 2.5 inches inclose to slaughter) then we also So calving and branding, kicking them out to summerthree days. Before that it had beenknow many yards are affected pastures and then bringing them in and sending them on theextremely dry and cool. The rain wasin the area, many animals truck is my reward for a job well done and Im very proud ofa blessing, until it warmed up and theacross the yard."that. Im sure my husband would say the exact same thing.recent moisture made the humidity go Seeing all our calves on the truck, not one thats sick, not oneway up. It had been in the 80\'s and thenWill this affect the food thats lame and they are on to bigger things. Its a good thing.on June 11th it hit 115 degrees in heatsupply? No. If anything, what Its a really good thing.index (109 + humidity in the sixties)will help is if you buy more and the wind stopped blowing. Thebeef! Dr. Barnhardt says, I got a text a couple weeks ago from one of our favorite feed- lack of wind and it not cooling down"Don\'t worry about the beef yard managers letting me know that our calves were goinghad an effect they didn\'t expect, killingon your table because we\'ve to be headed to the processing plant. I headed down andcattle overnight. As Trista said, "it wasgot you covered!" In the end, took a look. I will admit, my eyes got a little teary becauseheartbreaking to see for sure." as Dr. Barnhardt said, "There Im so proud of what they looked like. We feel blessed thatare people out here working our calves go to a local feedlot. It is rewarding to know thatSunday morning they called theirhard to make sure cattle they will provide other families, just like ours with healthy,veterinarians and nutritionist tosurvive. There are a lot of nutrition filled beef. Ranch to feed yard to your plate. If youbrainstorm what they could do. Theyanimals not dying because so have any questions about your meat, if you have questionsbedded areas in the pens with lightmany of us care! Our world about the grain you are eating just send me a message. colored bedding, so it\'d reflect the heathas some crazy stuff going instead of absorbing it and added extraon, I can understand to a I wanted to share a portion of a post about what happened instock water tanks in the areas in eachdegree why people are so Kansas from @Farmer Girl. Unfortunately, sometimes thingspen the cattle preferred to hang out. Theyunsettled, but we have seen happen that are totally out of our control, and weather is oneencouraged the cattle to not eat as muchthis before and we know of those things. Such was the case in Kansas when weatherby making the areas away from the feedwhat we are dealing with went from mild and cool to hot and humid. Imagine if youthe most comfortable, thus having the cattle produce lessand there hasnt been a doubt in our minds since the first day were acclimated to a mild 80 degree environment with raininternal heat as they digested the feed. They don\'t have a roofexactly what we are up against." 14 September 2022'