Humans aren’t the only ones who suffer in frigid temperatures. Farm and ranch animals – who may be accustomed to Texas heat in the summer – may not be prepared to handle the wintry conditions predicted to linger this week.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agent Heath Lusty said British and Continental breeds of cattle are more cold-resistant animals than Brahman, Brangus and American breeds.
Many American cattle “don’t have the hair” to sustain extended periods of cold, Lusty said. “You never see any Brahman cattle really north of the Red River.”
The Lampasas Countybased Extension agent noted the extra nutrition requirements for cattle during tough winter weather.
“A friend of mine who was a beef cattle specialist, Robert Wells with the Noble Foundation out of Oklahoma, said with a dry winter coat, for every degree below 32 F, maintenance requirements increase by at least 1% in how much feed [cattle] have to consume,” Lusty said.
If cattle are wet, cold stress starts at 59 degrees, he added.
“The challenge we have right now is with all this precipitation on the ground … that’s gonna limit those cattle’s ability to get out and graze,” Lusty said. “This is when if you normally don’t feed hay, guys will be putting hay out.”
Frostbite also can be an issue, Lusty said. Ice needs to be broken daily at water sources for animals. Even though they may not drink as much in winter, cattle still can be expected to drink 15- 20 gallons a day, he added.
“Sheep will do a lot better than goats will just naturally because they have wool,” Lusty said. “Goats are probably the more susceptible of the three major livestock [raised in this area].”
Lusty, a longtime Central Texas resident, said the 1983- 84 winter may be the last prolonged cold blast similar to this one.
It may be hard to predict what effects the freezing weather will have on crops, Lusty said. Warm-season perennials are dormant and shouldn’t be affected.
“If we get some freeze damage on wheat or oats, it’ll probably kill them,” he said.
Much depends on what stage of growth the crop is in.
“When wheat reaches a certain maturity, if it gets a prolonged freeze, it can drastically reduce the grain yield,” Lusty said.
“Any fruit trees that have bloomed, they’re probably going to be history,” he said. “I wouldn’t think native trees out in the pasture, especially deciduous, would have problems. Where we could see damage on trees is from ice accumulation, which would cause branches to break.”
The ag specialist added that severe winter weather could have an impact on wildlife, such as the abundant whitetail deer in the area.
“A lot of that goes back to what kind of body condition are they in to begin with,” Lusty said. “On managed ranches, those deer are probably gonna be in a whole lot better shape than our native, wild deer on lowfenced places.”
Bucks often suffer more, Lusty added, as they are in rough condition coming off rut.