State, ranchers fear record loss of cattle

Toll from snowstorms expected to rattle beef industry in Colorado

Deborah Frazier and David Montero, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 3, 2007 at midnight

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LA JUNTA - Livestock losses from twin winter storms are expected to set a new record for Colorado and rattle the state's beef industry.

Don Ament, director of the Colorado Department of Agriculture, said Tuesday that farmers and ranchers in the area were having a difficult time finding all of their animals.

"We've got upward of 340,000 cattle out there," he said. "But with the snow, we can't even tell where those animals are."

A blizzard in 1997 killed about 30,000 cattle and set the livestock loss record at $28 million.

Colorado had an estimated 2.65 million head of cattle last January, including both beef and dairy animals, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's statistics service.

"Farmers and ranchers can't even get out of their homes to get to the cattle because miles and miles of county roads are impassible," Ament said.

More than 40 inches of snow covers Steve Wooten's ranch near Kim, 200 miles southeast of Denver. Wooten, 50, comes from four generations of ranching and said this is the worst storm he has seen.

"The 1997 one is the only one that comes to mind, but this one looks hard," he said. "I think we're going to wear this snow for a lot longer than that one."

Wooten said he has 320 head of cattle out in the snow and spent Tuesday trying to coax some calves across a flat area to bales of hay. But he said the snow came up to their bellies and they reluctantly turned back, unwilling to make the sojourn toward the barn.

Five National Guard helicopters ferried 400 bales of hay to drop-off sites in southeastern Colorado. Chinook and C-130 helicopters will join the efforts Wednesday.

Sno-Cats, snowmobiles and heavy equipment, some driven by volunteers, took the bales to stranded livestock.

"What worries me is we can't even see where those animals all are," Ament said. "In 1997, hundreds of cattle were buried in irrigation ditches and ravines."

While most major highways had opened, hundreds of miles of county roads remained closed, with drifts as deep as 12 feet isolating homes, towns and livestock.

"All the equipment we are used to being able to borrow is being used to dig out the Denver metro area," he said.

He said that Pueblo and Denver International Airport had sent several plows.

As aircraft searched for cattle herds and dropped hay, new evidence of the storm's destruction was found, said Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma.

Campo High School's cafeteria roof collapsed and five buildings in Walsh, including the volunteer fire department, crumpled under the snow's weight, he said.

"Not only do we have the immediate rescue efforts under way, but we have to plan a recovery strategy for communities reeling from this one-two punch," Gardner said.

Ament said a feedlot on U.S. 50 near La Junta lost 1,000 cattle.

At the grain elevator in Springfield, Sheila Moffett said that her husband and son were loading hay on a Black Hawk helicopter for their cattle.

"The herd hasn't eaten since Thursday, and that's a long time for them to go without food and water," she said. "You hear horror stories about how they bunch up in a corner and get buried."

Cade Doyle, who operates the La Junta Milling and Elevator Co., said the hay drops are vital for the cattle to survive. Doyle said most cattle could go a week without hay.

"They're pretty hardy," he said. "They'll forage for shrubs sticking out of the snow or even eat cactus. You just don't want them to have to go too long like that."

Polly White, of the Colorado Division of Emergency Management, said six trucks of food from Affiliated Foods in Texas were heading toward towns with empty grocery shelves and edgy residents.

On Wednesday, eight Sno-Cats from the Colorado Division of Wildlife will reach a staging area in Lamar where 120 National Guardsmen are based, waiting for more hay supplies.

Clarence Bulkley ranches northwest of Pritchett. He said he can see part of his herd from his home, but his front-end loader was stuck in the snow.

"I've never seen a storm as bad," said Bulkley, 53. "We knew before the storm quit we were in trouble."

Struggle with storm's aftermath

340,000 Estimated number of cattle threatened by snowstorm.

6,000 Homes in Colorado and Oklahoma left without power by the storm. Power outages also struck at least 6,300 homes and businesses in western Kansas and an estimated 15,000 in Nebraska.

400 Bales of hay dropped Tuesday.

5 Number of helicopters ferrying hay to drop-off sites.Sources: Colorado Department Of Agriculture, The Associated Press.

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