Every five years, the USDA releases a death census for the cattle industry. It tracks how many cattle have died and from what causes. The results are less sensational than one might expect; dust and shipping stress kill three times more cattle than all predators combined.
The USDA Death Loss in U.S. Cattle and Calves report came out at the end of December. It covered cattle lost during 2015. In general, cattle and calf death loss has stayed relatively stable. Calf losses have declined, but more calf deaths are due to predators in recent years. The biggest killer of cattle and calves, however, continues to be respiratory issues.
During 2015, 1.74 million head of cattle (animals over 500 lbs.) died from predator and non-predator causes. This is up slightly compared to the 1.73 million head lost in 2010 (most recent prior records). There were 2.14 million calves (animals under 500 lbs.) lost in 2015, down from 2.26 million head in 2010. These loses were valued at $3.87 billion total.
For cattle, almost 98 percent of the losses were due to non-predator causes, with 2 percent—41,700 head—killed by predators. Predators contributed more to calf losses at 11 percent—238,900 head—while the majority of death loss was due to non-predator causes.
Respiratory problems accounted for the highest percentage of deaths in both cattle and calves. Pneumonia and shipping fever were given as examples of respiratory problems. Almost 24 percent of cattle deaths, and almost 27 percent of calf deaths were due to respiratory issues. This amounts to an estimated 917,090 head of cattle and calves lost in 2015.
When looking at specific types of operations, respiratory issues hit some operations harder than others. So-called “other operations”—generally referring to feedyards and stocker operations—saw respiratory issues account for as much as 65 percent of the losses experienced.
Death by predator
Despite the raw numbers, death loss by predators always gets the most attention. An estimated 280,570 head of cattle and calves were killed by predators in 2015. This is up from the estimated 219,900 head in 2010. Since 1995 when the report first began, the number of cattle and calves killed by predators has steadily risen. In 1995, predators killed an estimated 118,800 head of cattle and calves.
In 2015, coyotes were the biggest killer of cattle and calves among predator causes. In cattle, 40.5 percent of predator kills—about 16,880 head—were attributed to coyotes. Coyotes were blamed for 53.1 percent of calf deaths by predators, an estimated 126,810 head.
It is worth highlighting that in 2015, there were more calves killed by coyotes than there were total predator kills in 1995.
Since 2000, the use of non-lethal predator controls saw a six-fold increase. In 2000, 3.1 percent of producers were using some form of non-lethal predator control. In 2015, that percentage had jumped to 19 percent, with guardian animals being the most commonly used method.
Unknown predators were credited with 6,570 cattle deaths and 29,680 calf deaths. These were 15.8 percent and 12.4 percent of the losses to predators in their respective categories.
Wolves were not a large contributor to cattle and calf death loss in 2015 and were highly localized to states where either gray wolves or Mexican wolves have been reintroduced. Wolves were credited with almost 5 percent of cattle death loss to predators, equalling roughly 2,040 head. This was on par with cattle losses attributed to mountain lions (1,930 head), and less than half of what was attributed to loose dogs (4,700 head).
Calf death loss to wolves was estimated at 3.4 percent of total calf death loss to predators, roughly 8,110 calves. By comparison, vultures were credited with killing three times as many calves at an estimated 24,600 head, or 10.3 percent of all calf losses to predators. — WLJ
