From staff reports STILLWATER – Dr. Rosslyn Biggs, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Specialist, discussed strategies for ensuring animal and human safety during tornadoes, wildfires, droughts, and other extreme weather events.
Biggs said producers should have already prepared for Oklahoma’s storm season to ensure livestock and personal safety.
“We want to think about human safety first, and animal safety next and have a plan for those things--particularly if we need to evacuate,” she said. “As we enter later summer, depending upon if we have had rain or haven’t had rain, we want to be thinking about wildfires as well. How we are going to respond to that is really kind of top of mind in being prepared.”
Later in the summer, it’s critical to understand the impact of rainfall amounts on prussic acid or nitrate levels in forages, Biggs said.
“Our classic kind of grass we are worried about there is Johnson grass, and those indications of how that can impact animals grazing directly, and/ or how we are going to hay those, and things related to the prussic acid, which is cyanide and nitrates as well,” she said.
Water availability is critical throughout the year, especially during times of intense heat. Ensuring cattle have access to clean, fresh water is a top priority and should be checked daily, Biggs said.
“The heat is coming for sure, and we want to think about how that impacts our cattle, particularly those that are black-hided,” she said. “We worry about things like water deprivation, especially when dealing with automatic waters.”
Biggs also noted that producers in heavy rainfall areas should be checking their cattle for foot rot.
“The thing about foot rot is that it is not always foot rot,” she said. “So if we are not seeing a response to treatment for foot rot, we really need to get those cattle up and take a closer look at those feet themselves, and have some veterinary intervention there.”
For those wrapping up calving season, Biggs recommends keeping calves in dry areas.