Cattle Consume 30 to 50% More During Extreme Cold
The Artic air that hit the Northern Plains last week caused consumers to turn up the thermostat, which increased energy bills. Farmers spent more on fuel as well during the cold snap, for livestock.
A cow's nutritional demands increased depending on weather conditions. Animals burn more calories to keep warm during extreme cold.
Cattle can consume 30-50% more feed to stay warm, meaning producers need enough hay and feed on hand during a winter cold blast.
Producers in the North Dakota should have plenty of forage and hay reserves built up this year, says Julie Ellingson,
executive vice president of
the North Dakota Stockmen's Association.
"God has blessed most areas of the state with ample moisture throughout the growing season, which has created substantial resources in terms of hay," she adds, "We are also coming off a couple of years, back to back, where we've had very mild winters and so those resources weren't utilized and still remain strong because they hadn't been needed."
