Blizzard Cleanup, Assessment
Still Underway On The Plains

DENVER —(AP)— Several Colorado counties plan to dig burial pits to dispose of the carcasses of thousands of livestock that died in a blizzard three weeks ago, and the Colorado Office of Emergency Management has asked county officials to let them know exactly what type of heavy equipment they need to dig the pits.

Authorities are hoping to avoid health hazards caused by the decaying carcasses. The Oct. 24-25 storm killed an estimated 30,000 head of cattle in 13 eastern plains counties, costing state producers more than $20 million.

Once the pits are dug to state Health Department standards, the Colorado Department of Transportation will provide workers and front-end loaders to pick up 1000 to 1300-pound carcasses and load them into dump trucks for the trip to burial pits, CDOT spokesman Dan Hopkins said.

CDOT also can hire contract workers or pay overtime to its own workers if necessary to finish the job, he said.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture hopes to get a disaster declaration from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help ranchers.

U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer, R-Colo., has asked Department of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman to make the disaster declaration, which would enable ranchers to get low-interest loans and other federal money.

"Passage of this emergency legislation before Congress adjourns is crucial to (ranchers') survival," Schaffer said.

The money would come from the Livestock Indemnity Program, which was founded by Congress this year to help cattle owners hurt by floods in South Dakota.

In addition to cattle losses, about 1500 hogs, 1000 sheep, 300 goats and almost 30 horses died in the blizzard.

Kansas officials say the cost of the storm could reach the tens of millions of dollars, officials say.

Todd Domer of the Kansas Livestock Association said his organization has estimated a loss of 20,000 to 40,000 head of feedlot cattle, between one and two percent of the state's total numbers.

If accurate, the loss would amount to as much as $20 million.

A more official accounting will come Friday when the U.S. Department of Agriculture releases its Cattle on Feed Report for November. Included will be feedlot losses for the previous month.

But the estimate will include neither cattle on individual ranches nor future problems with the livestock that survived the rain, wind and snow.

"The bigger financial impact on the industry will be in terms of lost performance on surviving cattle," Domer said. "That will be a sort of hidden impact from lost weight and health problems that ultimately reduce efficiency and drive up the cost of weight gain."

The livestock industry appears to have taken the biggest hit from the storm.

Domer said much of the lost cattle will be covered by insurance, although some policies do not include reimbursement for lighter cattle.

In crops, damage to unharvested milo and corn was not as severe as originally feared.

"I don't think producers are expecting to lose a lot of grain," said T.J. Byram, state statistician with the USDA's Kansas Agricultural Statistics.

"There may be some quality loss because a lot of the grain sorghum was covered by snow, but people tell me it stood pretty well. The storm delayed harvest, which will extend the risk some."

Jere White, executive director of the Kansas Corn Growers Association, said his organization also has heard few reports of crop disasters.

As with uncut grain, there were concerns about the condition of grain stored outdoors, but so far the quality appears to be intact in most regions of the state.

Mike Matson, spokesman for Gov. Bill Graves, said his office is awaiting damage assessments from emergency management personnel in storm-affected counties and that it would take several weeks to compile.

The information will be used to decide whether to ask the USDA for a declaration of emergency disaster.