USDA to Help South Dakota Cattle Ranchers Recover from Deadly Blizzard

Oct 23, 2013

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it will provide assistance to South Dakota cattle producers to clean up following an unseasonal snow blizzard which killed thousands of livestock. Assistance will include help to dispose livestock carcasses, mend destroyed fencing and rebuild shelters that were damaged.

An estimated 15,000 to 30,000 cattle died in the snow storm. The agency has agreed to work with South Dakota officials to share the cost of providing assistance services. Some of the cost would include deploying state officials who can work with producers to conduct impact assessments and properly dispose of livestock carcasses.

Cattle producers have until Nov. 15 to sign up for assistance, which is being administered through the Natural Resources Conservation Services Environmental Quality Incentives Program. In addition to requesting assistance, ranchers are also asked to submit forms documenting their losses. Agricultural advocates hope that declared livestock losses will push lawmakers to pass a Farm Bill quickly, which would allow for the livestock disaster assistance programs to kick in.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.