Heat wave causes deaths of tens of thousands of turkeys and chicken in KS and NC; forces TX ranchers to send cattle to early slaughter

[Emily]

http://www.dtnprogressivefarmer.com/dtnag/common/link.do?symbolicName=/ag/blogs/template1&blogHandle=inothermedia&blogEntryId=8a82c0bc301f591e01312989e2c90b91&showCommentsOverride=false&blogRegionCode=

Thursday 07/14/11
Heat Wave Causes Massive Poultry Kill-Off

Temperatures of 100 degrees and higher have killed tens of thousands of turkeys and chicken in Kansas and North Carolina and are forcing farmers in the southern U.S. scrambling to find ways to cool off their flocks, the Associated Press reported. The heat wave, beginning in the Midwest and spreading east, resulted in heat indexes of 118 degrees in Kansas on Sunday.....

(The birds are dying in spite of being misted with water.)

http://savant7.com/beefcattlenews/general/texas-cattle-ranchers-struggle-with-record-drought/

Texas Cattle Ranchers Struggle With Record Drought
Posted on July 15, 2011 by Beef Cattle News

Full Article Published in AFP News:

SAN ANTONIO, Texas ? A record drought is forcing Texas cattle ranchers to send their cows to slaughter because it?s too costly to keep buying feed for herds finding little forage in parched pastures....
[snip]
....the first six months of this year have been the driest since records began to be kept in 1895.....