Dairy farmers in three counties in California’s Central Valley have temporary permission from local officials to bury or compost hundreds of cows that died in a June heat wave, says the Fresno Bee. Ordinarily, the dead animals would be sent to a rendering plant, but there are too many carcasses and a mechanical malfunction reduced the plant’s capacity.
The June heat wave included nine days of temperatures in excess of 100 degrees, said the Bee. “To handle the problem, the counties had to take the unusual step of giving dairies permission to bury or compost the animals on-site under a strict set of temporary rules outlined by state water and agricultural agencies. Kings, Tulare and Fresno counties declared a state of emergency, clearing the way for the disposal methods.”
Farmers faced a similar calamity in 2006, said the newspaper, when $300 million in livestock were lost in unrelenting heat. County officials did not have a total for cattle deaths this time.