A cow blows water out her nose Monday evening at the Van Exel Dairy on Thornton Road. The dairy is losing one cow a day according to dairyman Hank Van Exel. So far the total is 10. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

Area livestock dying from sizzling heat

The blistering heat is killing farm animals and cutting production, Lodi-area dairy operators say.

"I'm averaging one (death) a day," Thornton-area dairyman Hank Van Exel said.

One cow died of heat stroke Sunday night, bringing the death toll on his ranch to 10, Van Exel said.

"It's as bad as I've ever seen it," he said.

Cattle deaths aren't the only problems plaguing local dairies. The heat wave has caused an estimated 25 percent decrease in milk production, and cows are too worn out to mate, local cattle ranchers say.

Cathy Kaehler's 700 cows normally produce nine gallons of milk per day on her dairy south of Lodi. During the heat wave, it's gone down to seven.

Some cows won't be able to come back to a productive level, even when it cools down," said Jack Hamm, who has more than 1,000 acres on Thornton Road, south of Highway 12.

"This is bad as frost on grapes and rain on the cherries," Van Exel said.

Perhaps worse yet, the extreme heat is causing more cattle deaths than the rendering plants can handle — an unprecedented problem for the San Joaquin County, said Scott Hudson, the county's agricultural commissioner.

"They're not picking up all the dead stuff; that's disgusting," Van Exel said.

Under normal circumstances, rendering plants in Hanford and Kerman pick up the old, sick cattle in San Joaquin County and take the cattle to the plants.

But more cattle are dying than the rendering plants can take, so cow carcasses are left on dairy farms to decay in the heat, Hudson said.

Part of the problem stems from having one fewer rendering plant in the area — Modesto Tallow Co. closed last year. Still, the number of cattle deaths is so many that one more plant wouldn't have helped much, said Dennis Luckey, executive vice president for Baker Commodities Inc., which runs a rendering service in Kerman that serves San Joaquin County.

"This is really the first time we've experienced this," Luckey said. "We want to service and provide the best service when we can, but our hands are kind of tied."

San Joaquin County officials' main concern is maintaining public health in light of the decaying cattle carcasses. Officials met Monday to decide whether to declare a public emergency for the county. Kings, Tulare and Fresno counties have already declared a public emergency because of the cattle issue.

Declaring a public emergency would allow these alternative disposal methods for the cattle carcasses: holding the carcass on site for future rendering, depositing the carcasses in a landfill, composting on site or burying on site.

The main problem facing cattle, dairy operators say, is that they drink a lot of water but lose their appetite. That causes cows to not produce as much milk.

"Animals are kind of like people, said Galt dairyman Case Van Steyn. "When they're feeling stressed, their appetite goes away. You can't perform very well. No animal is doing well in this kind of heat."

Cows feel their best when it's 95 degrees or less, Hamm said.

"Cows are like people," Hamm said. "They like it 35 to 85."

Cows can take one or two days of temperatures over 100, Hamm said, but when it's three or four days in a row, they can't take it.

"In round numbers, when it gets over 100, we start worrying," Hamm said.

Cows have shade, mist and fans available to keep them cool, but in the 110-plus weather, they just don't help, ranchers agree. Van Steyn added that cows need night temperatures below 80 degrees.

The heat has also caused cows to be, to put it delicately, not in the mood, Hamm said.

"Down the road, the cows won't get pregnant; it's too hot," Hamm said. "Next spring, the cows that should be calving won't."

People aren't faring that well either.

"We even had some employees and gave them a minimum day," Van Steyn said. "It's not worth the risk."

News-Sentinel staff writer Melissa Dahl contributed to this report.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

First published: Tuesday, July 25, 2006