MPR News Feature; Blizzard of the Century aftermath in rural Minnesota livestock farms

It's been a little over a week now since the blizzard of the century ended on the northern plains but only recently have Area residents dug out sufficiently to realistically estimate the full extent of the damage inflicted by the storm. Last weekend Democratic congressman Richard Nolan of Minnesota and Senator James Everett of South Dakota met in Worthington Minnesota with farmers and officials from seven Southwest Minnesota counties to hear official if conservative damage estimates from Knoebels county agent Gary Carson and tales of personal loss from area farmers are estimates on all cattle and calf losses thirty six hundred ten had hog losses forty nine hundred fifty had and these do not include any baby pig losses which go on to mean red meat for the American public. Sheep losses twelve hundred seventy five. And if we would look at the sheep and swine losses this comes at a time when producers are just slamming and they're just now peaking out and so we're going to look losing so much potential production. That is not even figured in any of these figures that I have before you and we look at

poultry losses in excess of sixteen thousand head. What does this mean. This means about 1 to 2 percent of our total livestock inventory in the Southwest seven counties. And putting market values on this I think we have to say these are low values because these animals actually have more value than even market value especially when we talk about breeding stock. But our conservative estimate on total livestock loss value is in excess of 1.3 million dollars for the seven county area. If we would look at production losses such as milk production losses for this immediate time period and weight losses on cattle egg production losses in our poultry and so forth we would multiply this over 10 fold we would look at something in excess of thirteen point two million dollars for this seven county area. In addition to this a farm building equipment and fence loss and damage is estimated to be in excess of 1.3 million dollars. This would come to a figure of somewhere around 16 million dollars in economic loss due

strictly dagger culture in the Southwest seven counties. Our future losses are probably going to even be more devastating than the figures that are bring before you today. We're short about forty five head of cattle. We've located Thirty eight of those that were dead and those cattle out of the cattle did come through the storm are in pretty serious condition. We've got some bowls that we know will be able to use and they will be and I've seen him because of the frost bites and the losses in the county we're never there far greater than what I have been reported because this morning I talked to one of my neighbors and he had reported that he had lost several dogs and hadn't mentioned and he was the last I never turned my last and so I'm I'm sure of that. When they get this thing totaled out it's going to be another 25 percent more than what they're getting. And for numbers we didn't lose any stock because as far as desk loss but on the muzzles of these cows we had a good four to five inches of cake ice and snow under muzzles and noses. So we went out there and tried to break this off

of their noses so they could get air and get something to eat. And it was just impossible to break it off or their hands so we went back to our shop got a hammer and we took the hammer and it sounds like cruelty but this is the only way we had to try and save him. And we took the hammer and bus to decipher their muzzles as much as we could. Like I said we don't have any death loss in the stock car itself but I think next spring is going to tell the real financial story. We still have a problem of frozen tetes. We have the problem of these cows possibly aborting on us yet before spring. And if this happens well we've got a couple more years lost. Well I've been trying to start farming since 1968 and doggone it in getting any better I lost doing twenty thirty two and thirty five head. I'm not sure on exact count yet. I haven't tried to really count my last ones because I don't want to spook them because my lats are all plumb full of snow. I feed them right in the middle of the yard all they get is pushed up snow for fence and.

The weight loss on me runs in the neighborhood of a hundred pounds you know just gone. But I think the troubles are just starting yesterday and I just want to get one fat that's gangrene set in in the hindquarters legs also all swollen up. Just before I came this to this meeting and I want another one. And I fed him at noon I'm getting him back on feed. You can pick out better quality cattle right now the good cattle they've made it through better the lighter bone cattle that they didn't take it as well all the hindquarters and stuff are turning black on the outside the pears gone love falling off. It's just so unbelievable you know I'll never forget it. Bad as things were in southwest Minnesota they could have been worse as they were elsewhere although the region bore the full brunt of the storm's fury. Local farmers raise more grain than livestock and livestock were most vulnerable to storm damage. Just across the border in Dickinson

County Iowa for example two farmers lost a total of more than 12 hundred cattle between them. Indeed in talking with farmers it is difficult to get a sense of the urgency and gloom which one would expect in a disaster situation. This doesn't mean that the losses aren't severe but farmers are philosophical about the weather. Perhaps more than the rest of us they recognize the inevitability of such extremes and so are better prepared to deal with them. What farmers don't want however is to be the sole bearers of the economic burdens which such disasters impose. I'm Kim Hudson.