The Atlas Blizzard

Winter has started.  It’s scary but true.

I have started this article 3 times so far but have been unable to post it till now.  Speaking to so many people about the losses of this blizzard has been so overwhelming to me that I’m having trouble writting about it.  Even now, nearly 2 weeks after the storm the first question you ask when you meet someone on the street is “How did you come out on the blizzard.”

In the first week of October western South Dakota was struck by one of the worst blizzards in history.   One to two inches of rain fell before the temperatures dropped and the rain turned to slush then snow.  Winds gusted up to 60-70 mph as the snow stacked up.  Livestock drifted east – pushed by the wind until they couldn’t go any futher – sometimes piling up in the fence corners where they died.  The estimates have been stagering – between 60,000 to 100,000 head of cattle and horses perished and ranchers are still trying to gather what’s left of their herds. 

We were very lucky.  We got the rain and the wind but thankfully only a fraction of the snow others were reporting.  We had 2 foot tall drifts but most of the snow blew past us and the cattle at the ranch were still able to graze throughout the storm.  We also had the protection of Elk Mountain to help break the wind and our cattle were able to find cover in the draws and gullies. 

About half of our cow/calf pairs were still on the Forest Service permit where they had some shelter in the trees.  Most found their way down the mountain and were standing at the gate wanting in when Hubby went to look.  Others, including some of the neighbors cattle jumped fences or tore them down and we spent several days sorting and hauling cattle back to their owners who were glad to have them.  We may still be missing a couple of head from the FS permit but we won’t know for sure until we work cattle this Saturday.  We will be preg checking the cows this weekend and that will also give us a good idea if we have any other problems because of the storm.  Bad weather will sometimes push cows into the trees for shelter but this is not always a good thing.  Ingesting pine needles may cause them to abort their calves and this is not a surprise we want next spring.  But so far things look good.

Our yearlings faired well too.  They were in the summer pasture near Custer – where the snow really stacked up.  By the time we could make it in to check on them most of them were standing near the corral and Hubby was able to lead them in with a sack of cake and a bale of hay.   We were only missing two but we stopped at the neighbors who had already found one of them and was pretty sure the other was in another group of cattle further west.  Because of the snow and mud there was no way we could get a trailer up to the next place so we will have to go back once they can get in and make sure he’s actually there. 

These neighbors had quite a mess at their place.  Just west of their ranch is a lot of government land which is grazed all summer by cattle from several ranches.  With the wind coming out of the west most of those cattle drifted right down into their place where they spent days feeding and gathering other peoples cattle along with their own.  It was several days before the other owners could make it in with loads of hay and it will be longer yet before they can sort and know exactly how many cattle they have left.

So many others weren’t so lucky.  We’ve got friends who have lost better than half their herd and others who have lost almost all.  And that’s just the inital losses.  People are still losing cattle daily as the stress takes it’s toll.  Some of the stories and information coming out of the worst of it makes no sense at all and makes it even harder to understand.

From what I’ve read and heard it appears there were several curcumstances that added up to the horrific losses from this storm.  The first being that the blizzard hit so early in the season.  Most cattle were still in the summer pastures with little or no cover to block the wind.  A lot of these summer pastures are also Forest Service permits or BLM land where cattle from several ranches are run together in huge pastures that cover thousands of acres.  Ranchers check on their cattle all summer long but it’s not unusual to go 3 or 4 months without seeing all your cattle.  These pastures are nearly impossible to gather quickly from too.  Some ranchers will work for a week or better gathering their cattle in the fall.  And if the weather is nice most of the cattle are reluctant to come home until the temperatures cool down and they know winter is coming.

Another problem created by the early blizzard is that the cattle and horses hadn’t grown in their winter coats.  It has been such beautiful weather that nothing – not even our cats and dog were haired up enough to withstand the temperature drop.  Add to that several inches of rain and the wind for a deadly combination.

They are even blaming the green grass as a factor.  As this was such an unusual summer with lots of rain we still have lush green grass growing which never happens around here.  You wouldn’t think it to look at it but fast growing lush grass doesn’t have the nutrients of the dried, cured grasses we bale and feed in the winter.  Even if those cattle could have gotten under the snow and grazed non stop they would still not have been able to eat enough to keep themselves warm through the storm.  Unbelievable.

One of the most incredible facts to me is that they are finding out that all these animals drowned.  It doesn’t matter if they were down in a gully or on top of a hill they had breathed in so much moisture that their lungs were full of water.  I’m sure the wind added to that as well. 

They are also finding that most of the losses were cows – not calves.  One ranch I heard had lost over 200 head of cows but still had every one of the calves.  This is amazing – almost as amazing as the story of one rancher who calves in the fall.  He was right in the middle of calving when the storm hit and even without shelter every one of his calves survived it.  In a normal storm that would never have happened. 

There were also lots of horses lost – most in the 2-3 year old range.  I know people who have ranched their whole lives and have never lost a horse in a blizzard and yet one Bible camp lost nearly 100 head of horses to this blizzard alone. 

The government shut down had sent me home from work 2 days before the blizzard hit.  Even though I was thankful to be home during the worst of it there was very little we could do but watch as we went from warm sun filled days to rain and snow in a matter of hours.  Now that we’re back to work reports have started coming in from local ranchers who have lost a few.  Most of the big losses were north, east and south of us. 

Some of the livestock lost in this blizzard were not insured.  Even the ones that were insured were probably not coverd for loss due to blizzards – very few insurance companies cover this.  And even though they can prove that these cattle drowned the insurance companies are still denying these claims. 

And as for any government help…   The last Farm Bill expired in 2012 so there are no disaster programs in place that will help these ranchers.  Yet there is talk of disaster assistance in the works so we hope and pray that Congress will make this a priority and agree on a way to help. 

There have been so many heart-wrenching stories in the last few weeks.  Stories of cattle that died inside corrals and barns while others on the open prairie survived and newborn calves that survived when adult cows in the prime of their lives perished.  At one sale barn alone over 300 head of cattle died in the corrals while one rancher started with over 600 head of cattle and today has 1 left.  There are people who have lost everything and will probably not survive the economic losses but more importantly there are those who won’t have the heart to start over after seeing years of careful breeding and hard work wiped away in a couple of days.  These are the stories that break my heart.