A heat wave baking California since mid July has killed 25,000 cattle and 700,000 fowl, prompting emergency measures and crippling the sector for months to come, analysts said. Central California between Bakersfield and Redding is home to approximately 2.5 million cattle. Roughly 25,000 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 1,500 to 2,500 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 400,000 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.
"Composting is the best alternative method," said Zylstra. "Come six months, there's nothing left but the plastic ear tags -- not even any bones or teeth."
Disposal methods vary by county based on the water table, according to Zylstra.
Though not sustaining the losses of the dairy industry, poultry farmers are also disposing of millions of pounds of chickens and turkeys in landfills. Most central California poultry farms house their birds in ventilated, water-cooled barns that keep the temperature at 76 degrees F (24 degrees C), according to Bill Mattos, President of California Poultry Association.
"But when the temperatures reach over 100 degrees F (38 degrees C), it can be devastating to the smaller producer," Mattos told AFP. He estimates that 700,000 birds have been lost in the summer heat.
The heat also decreases the breeding success of the livestock. "Cows just don't get pregnant in the heat," said Zylstra. "Nine months down the road we'll be seeing the long-term effects. Just like people, cows just aren't as frisky in this kind of heat."
