Crops are suffering as our current heat wave finally dissipates. Livestock, meanwhile, are holding their own if they can stay out and about, according to Lyon County Extension ag agent Brian Rees.
Rees says there have been reports of heat issues with cattle at a small feedlot in northeast Kansas. He says those reports demonstrate the concerns in place when large animals go onto a high-energy feed ration with little space and limited air circulation.
There has been some good news in that concerns about blue-green algae in stock ponds hasn’t bloomed, despite the extreme heat over the past week and reducing water levels. However, Rees says there hasn’t been much to any water runoff since this past spring in some cases and last fall in others. Given how dry the ground is — Chase County being over two feet below normal the past two years as an example — Rees says it will take a lot of water to soak the ground and get to runoff.
