7-28 FB Deadly Heat

  Some can beat the heat and others cannot. The heat this summer so far is extremely extreme and warnings are going out all over the country. The consequences in a minute. I’m David Sparks. The news is full of talk about the heat. All through the South, the Southwest and the West in particular, where there is so much agriculture, there is an unbelievable heat wave occurring. When you listen to the news, you hear the commentators warning people to be sure that they hydrate given that an hour or less in extremely hot conditions can be fatal. The recommendation drink at least 12 ounces of water an hour if you’re out in the heat. That leads you to wonder about livestock. How much at risk are they. Here’s a partial answer. Estelline, South Dakota Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Nystrom says more than two-hundred head of cattle at a nearby feedlot have died as a result of the weather conditions.  “We took some trucks out to help  water the cattle down and talked to the owner and he showed us the feedlot and we probably sprayed seven or 8000 gallons of water across the cattle in a mist and tried to get them to cool down and the estimate was that about 200 head were dead. The guys took two trucks out and watered again and said there were more dead then.