Rare News Desk
A seasonably early record-setting South Dakota snowstorm left cattle ranchers reeling this week after sustaining equally record livestock losses with no federal assistance in sight.
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Reports of 20 inches to 4 feet of freezing rain and snow blew through the Black Hills area at wind speeds up to 70 mph last weekend, battering cattle that had yet to grow thicker coats to protect against the elements. Trapped animals died of hypothermia, suffocation and other injuries.
The South Dakota Stockgrowers Association’s early estimate of a statewide 5 percent livestock loss will equate to tens of millions for ranchers. The state has the sixth-largest herd in the country according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“The weekend blizzard already has caused untold devastation,” South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard said in a Friday statement. “The number of livestock actually lost in the storm isn’t certain, but it will range in the thousands of head.”
South Dakota U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson’s office stated it has received reports as high as 80,000 animals lost from all over the state, while other agencies’ tentative estimates hover around 20,000.
“The one place where help is lacking is from the federal government. Because of the government shutdown, producers can’t rely on their FSA offices for assistance. And since Congress hasn’t finished a Farm Bill, West River ranchers have to wait for disaster assistance,” Johnson said on the floor of the Senate last week.
United States Farm Service Agency workers have been furloughed amid the two-week-plus government shutdown, preventing ranchers from even documenting their losses or claiming aid through the Livestock Indemnity Program, which expired in 2011 after Congress was unable to pass a farm bill.
Two years later a bill remains stalled between the two chambers, which passed different versions through the Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate this past summer, each mired in contempt from the opposing party.
“We’ve passed a good Farm Bill here in the Senate, twice in the past two years. I worked to include funding for these livestock-disaster programs, which is in both the Senate and House bills. The Senate is ready to negotiate the Farm Bill, but the House hasn’t appointed conferees. The longer they delay, the longer my constituents will suffer without disaster aid,” Johnson said.
The majority of ranchers cannot afford livestock insurance according to Heath Ferguson, who told The Associated Press he lost 96 percent of a single heard at a value of about $250,000.
“It’s cost-prohibitive for a producer,” he said Sunday in an interview with The Associated Press. “Unless you’re a really big operator, you can’t afford to pay for the insurance.”
The farm bill and immigration reform made a growing list of legislative endeavors lost amid Congress’s annual fiscal showdowns that have become commonplace since 2010 – the last two years have been the legislative body’s least productive in history.
“The House needs to pass a clean continuing resolution, and they need to appoint conferees so we can finally finish the Farm Bill,” Johnson said.
Giuseppe Macri is a national political correspondent for Rare. Follow Giuseppe on Twitter.
Related articles
- Tens of thousands of cattle feared dead after South Dakota storm (reuters.com)
- Farm bill fails ranchers who lost cattle (journalstar.com)
- Farm bill delay hits ranchers (themorningsun.com)
