Valley farmers work to keep cows cool during heat wave
TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Cows love Central California's winters. The summers can put stress on their bodies. So when the temperatures hit triple digits, farmers work overtime to keep them cool.
At Steve Wilbur's dairy farm near Tulare, dozens of fans are blowing and water is spraying to keep all 2,500 of his jersey cows cool.
"If they're uncomfortable, they don't feel like drinking water, and even though that's counterintuitive they don't want to eat, they just want to hang out, and pant, and try to blow that heat off. If they're not eating, they're not getting the nutrient value into their bodies," said Wilbur.
A cow that's not eating or drinking enough won't produce enough milk. Wilbur makes sure the cows get plenty of shade, and these fans and water jets automatically turn on when they hit 78 degrees. As opposed to misters, the cows are soaked with water every 10 minutes -- keeping them cooler longer.
"A lot of water for a very short time, that allows it to sink in to their skin and cool them to that level while it evaporates as the fans blow that moisture off their backs," said Wilbur.
The water is then recycled and used to water crops. This year's dry weather has some farmers worried about how bad the summer's weather will get. If temperatures get too high, cows can die or stop producing milk.
"When it gets that 95 at 9 o'clock in the morning, and at sunset it's still 100, 105, and then we get to 11 o'clock and it's 85; that's tough on everything," said Wilbur.
