Over the summer months, farmers and ranchers around the country experienced unusually high temperatures that brought a lot of stress and challenges to caring for their herds.  The recent weeks have brought challenges at the very opposite end of the spectrum with abnormally low temperatures due to an arctic blast sweeping across the country.  

         Extremely low temperatures in many ways can be more manageable for livestock producers than high temperatures.  Leading up to the days of forecasted subzero temperatures, farmers and ranchers worked tirelessly to ensure their animals had all they needed to survive the freezing weather. 

         First and foremost, animals, especially cattle, have been designed to withstand cold temperatures.  Their thick hide, coarse hair and natural insulation provide a coat to keep warm in even severe winter weather.  This is easily demonstrated when cattle are seen with snow standing on their backs, an indication that they are actually warm.  It would be expected that the snow would melt from the heat coming off the animal but the fact that the snow isn’t melting signals that the cattle are retaining their body heat due to their exceptional insulation.  

         To help cattle stay dry which will help them stay warm, producers first remove snow from areas that they can gather and lay down in.  In those areas bare of snow, they then will put out bedding such as straw to help them to further stay dry and warm.  Simply said, dry cattle are warm cattle.

         Wind can be a huge factor in dropping the temperatures for cattle to endure.  Wind can drop temperatures an additional 20, 30 or even 40 degrees.  Elk Park, Montana saw the mercury drop to -50, with a windchill taking down to -74 December 22.  Having windbreaks of stacked hay, trees and bushes, other natural buffers or panels can help mitigate the extreme cold brought on by severe winds.

         When the cold weather hits, those cattle are going to spend a lot more calories to keep warm.  To make sure that they have enough feed to last, livestock producers put out more hay than their normal rations.  Feeds that are high in energy, like grass hay, will provide more calories which in turn helps cattle stay warm.  Aside from helping to meet their caloric needs, extra feed can help keep cattle warm in another way.  As the microbes within the ruminant gut work to digest the feed, they perform an exothermic reaction, meaning that they give off heat.  The more they work, the more heat they put off, keeping cattle warm despite their cold environment.

         Severe cold weather is an unfortunate part of farming and ranching.  And when the weather turns bitterly cold, farmers and ranchers don’t have the luxury to take the day off of work.  Instead they pull on their boots and extra layer or two and head into the storm to care for their cattle.