The government may have temporary shut down as lawmakers continue to debate but Mother Nature didn’t get the memo. South Dakota ranchers continue to dig out and count their losses following the worst blizzard in the state’s history.
Between 10,000 and 20,000 cattle were killed in a blizzard in western South Dakota earlier this month, according to state veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven.
The storm spawned a tornado outbreak in nearby states, sparing cities but wreaking havoc on rural communities. The Sioux Jersey Dairy in Salix, Iowa, was one of those hardest hit by one of the tornados.
However, Mother Nature’s fury was a grim reminder that nature isn’t on furlough and the government’s inability to negotiate leaves those cleaning up after these October storms in need of assistance and information.
In a blog for the American Farm Bureau, North Dakota farmer Val Wagner praises the workers and organizations that have stepped in to help while Congress continues its “tantrum.”
“#DearCongress: Mother Nature is not on furlough. Farmers and ranchers are not on furlough. Emergency workers are not on furlough. It’s time to do what you were elected to do…grow up and represent our country, lead us to a better future, not down a path of destruction,” Wagner urges.
She adds: “We cannot go back and change the actions of the past, but we certainly can make sure that our future is a different story. A government shutdown will not have an impact on Mother Nature. But it can unite us in a drive to finally do what we should have been doing all along…be involved.”—Angela Bowman, Staff Writer, Drovers Cattle Network