CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — These extreme temperatures are not only exhausting for us to endure but also for livestock.
Dairy farmers are doing all they can to keep their animals comfortable.
Joe Knolle of Knolle Dairy Farms says dairy production has gone down in the last two weeks due to the extreme temperatures.
"Walk around and start hallucinating in five minutes, that's just tough," he said.
While farmers are accustomed to working in high temperatures, Knolle said he isn't used to the recent heatwave that has been hitting the Coastal Bend.
“It was hot, but it wasn't this insane 108-degree air temperatures, 70 percent humidity," he said.
Knolle's hardest workers, his cows, have been struggling in the heat too.
"Milk production has gone down 30 percent in the last two weeks," he said.
But in those two weeks, Mother Nature has had some upsides. Two calves were born in the last two weeks in the harshest temperatures, which Knolle says is a good sign that despite the heat, the cows are still producing enough milk to feed their calves.
"Oh! I see a baby,” he said. “Another baby, wow! You see any heat stress? She's doing an amazing job based on how bad it is out here."
Knolle says signs of heat stress in cows are drooling and gathering together in groups. So the animals been taking advantage of some shade and Knolle’s misting station.
“At 5, 5:30, we're going to use Mother Nature here to help us cool those cows down and put this mist on top of the cows now too,” he said. “And they're loving it. They're coming into the barn. It's knocking that heat off of them."
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent for San Patricio County Bobby McCool says many farmers find new ways to do what’s best for their animals.
"Producers that deal with this on a daily basis, they're pretty in tune with the needs and the wants of their livestock, but the main thing is water at this time of the year, just making sure they have an abundance of water,” he said.
Knolle is making the best of what Mother Nature gives, so his cows can continue to give back.
"Lots of children, lots of child support," he said.
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