Dairy Cattle In Jeopardy In Western Washington
Listen
Dairy farmers across Western Washington say they’re a day or two from totally running out of fodder. That’s because of last week’s floods.
Right now there are thousands of hungry cattle in the state, many in Skagit and Whatcom counties alone.
A major livestock feed mill in northern Washington state has totally broken down under the recent record flooding. And many trucking routes and rail lines are out.
A freshly-calved milking cow can eat upwards of 120 pounds of feed per day. New bovine mothers need a lot of calories to produce gallons of milk each day — sort of like an elite athlete.
“So it’s just a crisis that has the potential to continue to escalate as we move along.” says Fred Likkel, who heads up an advocacy group for family farmers in Whatcom County
Likkel says many farmers across the border in Canada are also cut off from feed for their animals.
***Clarification: Number of cattle in jeopardy has been updated and clarified to thousands.
Related Stories:
‘Feria Linda’ helps vineyard workers shine
One of Feria Linda’s volunteer manicurists works on a vineyard worker’s nails. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 3:34) Read The Milton-Freewater Community Building looked like the backstage of
This nonprofit winery connects vineyard workers to health care
Vineyard workers listen to a presentation from Vital Wines, a nonprofit winery that connects them to health care resources. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 4:05) Read On a
Rural areas hit hard by food insecurity, study finds
Joe Tice, the Tukwila Pantry’s executive director, stocks tables with canned goods at the food bank in Tukwila, Washington. (Credit: Lance Cheung / USDA) Listen (Runtime 1:03) Read Before she
