June 2025 was the planet’s third-warmest year on record, only 0.14°F behind 2024, and currently, 2025 is on pace to be at least one of the top four hottest years on record. There’s even a 65% chance it will tie for second place.
When you look at the contiguous U.S., it’s only the seventh warmest June on record, but hot is hot, and that means, in addition to taking care that we don’t overheat, we pay attention to what’s happening to our livestock.
For livestock producers that means problems
Heat stress can cause embryonic death and reduced gains. According to the Noble Foundation, “A silent problem that probably surfaced last summer was early embryonic death in cows being bred during late June, July, and August.” That matches up with research showing severe heat stress can increase early embryonic death. You’ll see it show up in the fall as open cows.
You’ll also find that cattle on forage and/or feed gain at a reduced rate. Cattle sweat very little, primarily cooling themselves through breathing and radiating heat from their bodies. They also reduce feed intake to reduce the heat generated during digestion. These problems increase when nighttime temperatures remain high as well.
What can we do?
Here’s some help for understanding risks, being able to recognize heat stress, and tips for what to do about it. It covers all classes of livestock On Pasture readers might be raising.
Take care of yourself too! Be sure to keep water on hand at all times. Here in Arizona, where summer heat can be deadly, the first thing I’m asked in many stores I walk into, or when I stop at a friend’s house, is “Would you like some water?” I think it’s a great habit for all of us to get into. I’ve also found that as I age, I’m much less able to deal with the heat. So I start work early, take more breaks in the shade, and head for home at the first sign of discomfort. I also add electrolytes to my water as an easy way to give my body what it needs. (This is my favorite.)
Long-Term Solutions
As CNN points out in this article, we know why this is happening:
Once synonymous with leisure and reprieve, summer has increasingly become a season marked by anxiety and disruption. Fossil fuel pollution — alongside other compounding factors — has transformed these months into a time of mounting peril, punctuated by relentless heat waves, rampant wildfires and catastrophic flooding.
Beyond heat, we’re also seeing the impacts in this summer’s unusually high humidity and extreme rain events and flooding due to humid air is being funneled north from the unusually warm Gulf and western Atlantic. According to climate scientist Kate Marvel, “This is almost a textbook example of climate change impacts. The science behind it is so basic you can see it in daily life. Warm water drives more evaporation — the bathroom gets much steamier after a hot bath than a cold one.”
Next our high temperatures add to the problem. “Warm air contains more water vapor — a cold beer gets wet on the outside on a hot day, because when air comes into contact with the cooler surface, it has to condense out its water vapor,” she told CNN. Warm ground sends moist air into the cooler atmosphere above, causing condensation and rain. It’s the reason we see summer rains in the afternoon. When the air holds as much moisture as it does right now, that also means heavier rain. Marvel continued, “Whether a downpour turns into a catastrophic flood depends on a lot of things: how porous the ground is, the topography of the area, the people and things in harm’s way. But there is absolutely no doubt that climate change, caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases, is making extreme rainfall more extreme.”
With all these warnings in place, it’s clear we need to do something. Although we may not be able to change some of the politics surrounding when or what countries like ours and others do, as graziers, we have tools to help. The simplest thing you can do is add compost. Not only will you get more forage production, you’ll also draw carbon from the atmosphere, creating healthier soils and acting as a first step to slowing climate change.
I’ve posted lots of information about this in the past to help you get started. Here are two that summarize what you need to know:
For More Forage, Improved Soil and a Better Climate Future Just Spread Compost
How to Spread Compost as a Climate Change Solution in Your Community
If, after checking out the articles, you have questions about this practice, leave them in the comments below.
Thanks for your work. Stay cool and dry out there!
Kathy
Kathy,
Great information for assisting livestock managers, to increase knowledge and improve management of their herds and flocks.
I would like to contribute a bit more information considering long term management.
Selecting livestock breed or breed combinations that are suited for the climate, on your ranch’s spot on the Earth, should be a top, if not the primary consideration. When considering heat tolerance, one cannot leave out the differences, within the species. Brahman cross cattle (with 3/8 to 1/2, or more, bos indicus genetics) have the ability to sweat, profusely, this trait with thinner more porous hide, plus, loose wrinkled hide (with an increased surface area for better heat dispersion), and the tendency, to put on interior fat (abdominal or kidney fat), as opposed to an external fat layer, make them well suited to hot, and hot humid environments. Hair sheep or tropical type sheep, also possess, many of these characteristics. Lack of nighttime cooling is a main problem. Nighttime lows in the upper seventies, with a very high nighttime humidity (90-100%), makes for hot nights that do not allow, for livestock to cool down. The normal upper limit of the thermoneutral zone for beef cattle is 77 degrees F. Unfortunately, there has been a trend, over the last few decades, to move away from breeds that are best suited, for humid sub-tropical regions of the US. This has resulted in lower percentages of weaned calves and lambs, and higher death loss rates. Take Care, Stuart Gardner – Area Range Conservationist, Lafayette, Louisiana
Hi Stuart! Thanks for the comment. I agree that choosing animals that better fit your climate is a great idea. One of the issues for some though is that buyers in many areas are still looking for a particular breed/type of animal and as On Pasture author John Marble wrote awhile back, they don’t want those long-eared cattle. So graziers will have to balance what the market wants with what grows well where they live.
Kathy, I fully understand the point, that they don’t want, those long-eared cattle. I see the same opinion, expressed by producers in the area. Consistently, I see them working diligently to attempt to make their selected breed or breed cross succeed, on their ranch. Failure is costly in the way of time, effort, and money. Making fact based practical decisions, is part of sound animal husbandry, and ecological based grazing land management. If the livestock they selected, is not a good match, for the climate / physical environment, on their ranch’s spot on the Earth, they will see negative consequences. Some include, higher death losses, persistent health problems, issues with internal and external parasites, and ultimately substandard production. Low weaned calf percentages, lack of growth of livestock, and death losses, are the main negative results. That should be each’s choice. But, individuals need to be aware of the actual results of their decisions. Whether the consideration is for the climate in North Dakota, South Louisiana, or somewhere in between, it is important. Within major breeds of beef cattle there are many variations and options. Wild and crazy cattle can be found in every breed. Tthe way they are handled, from birth, has an effect on that, as well. Proper handling techniques and good culling practices, work well to eliminate problem livestock. Neglecting the fact, that livestock selected for production, in an ecological based, sustainable, grazing based operation, should be closely suited to the climate, is never a good management decision. I have seen great results from operations, that match their brood cows to the southern US’s climate. They run F1 or 3/8 brood cows, with pure bred English or Continental bulls. They consistently produce beef that quality and yield grades, higher than the industry averages. More understanding is needed, concerning this important subject. Take Care, Stuart Gardner
I’m with you on choosing the breed for the climate. It’s just that the packers aren’t there yet and in many regions folks with long-eared cattle get price docked. So producers are kind of in a bind trying to figure out what to do.