An April blizzard across the Northern Plains was described as ‘a calf-killing storm.’ Belfield, North Dakota rancher Byron Richard shared his experience. “Everyone around here is in the midst of calving and there was a fair amount of death loss. A group of our own cattle went out on a dam and fell through. We lost 16 of them. Another producer I know lost 70 head of cattle.” Richard said they’re grateful for the moisture even though calving has been challenging. “You can tell people are getting tired. We had guys checking cattle on horseback, because the snow was too deep. What would normally take an hour suddenly took three hours to make it back to the barn.” The USDA Livestock Indemnity Program was made available to help compensate producers for a portion of their losses. The North Dakota Stockmen’s Association and the North Dakota Stockmen’s Foundation distributed nearly a quarter-million dollars in aid through the Hope After Haley Disaster Relief Program.
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