Over 10,000 cattle have died in the recent Kansas heatwave, adding further pressure to America’s food supply crisis.
Kansas and much of the Midwest have suffered severe heat this week as temperatures hovered around 100 degrees.
The news comes as White House officials are leaking about America’s mounting economic crises, admitting privately that Democrat President Joe Biden’s sanctions against Russia are “exacerbating inflation and worsening food insecurity.”
As Slay News reported earlier today, Biden admin insiders are raising concerns the sanctions on Russia are causing massive “collateral damage” to the American and the world economy.
Worryingly, the White House officials say Biden’s miscalculation and bungled rollout of the sanctions may lead to a worldwide famine that will destabilize the entire world.
However, according to Biden’s U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), there are currently no nationwide food shortages in the country.
“There are currently no nationwide shortages of food, although in some cases the inventory of certain foods at your grocery store might be temporarily low before stores can restock,” the agency said on its website.
“Food production and manufacturing are widely dispersed throughout the U.S. and there are currently no widespread disruptions reported in the supply chain.”
Meanwhile, at least 18 major fires have erupted at food industry facilities and plants over the past six months.
All of the fires have been officially listed as accidental or inconclusive.
Think Americana recently published a list of US-based food manufacturing plants that were damaged from 2021 to 2022 under the Biden administration.
There are 97 incidents on the list.
The latest reports show a major hit on the cattle industry.
DTNPF reported:
The current heat wave blazing through Kansas feedlots has killed an estimated 10,000 head of fat cattle.
Final death numbers continue to come in, but that early estimate was shared with DTN by livestock experts, who put the geographical center point for those deaths at Ulysses, Kansas.
DTN calls to feedlots in the area and to ranchers whose branded animals were seen in some privately shared photos of dead cattle were not immediately returned.
What is known is that leading up to these heartbreaking losses, temperatures in the area were over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, there was humidity, and there was little to no wind to help cool the animals. Temperature readings reported for Ulysses began to exceed the 100-degree mark on June 11. By June 13, the high temperature was reported at 104 degrees, with humidity levels ranging from 18% to 35%. Temperature and humidity levels began to break some on June 14. Just a few days prior to the heat setting in, highs had been in the 80s.
Corbitt Wall, a cattle analyst with National Beef Wire who works out of Amarillo, Texas, told DTN he heard from two non-media sources about the extent of the Kansas losses. He noted there was frustration that despite such extensive losses, the futures market fell Monday.
As Slay News reported last week, the largest pork company in the United States has announced that it is shutting down its California plant due to high costs.
Smithfield Foods is shutting down its Vernon, CA, plant and will scale back operations in California, Utah, and Arizona
The food processing company “will cease all harvest and processing operations in Vernon, California in early 2023 and, at the same time, align its hog production system by reducing its sow herd in its Western region,” Smithfield said in a Friday news release.
“Smithfield is taking these steps due to the escalating cost of doing business in California,” the company said.
“It’s increasingly challenging to operate efficiently there,” Smithfield Foods spokesperson Jim Monroe told the Wall Street Journal.
“We’re striving to keep costs down and keep food affordable.”
