ABSTRACT

Regional climates contain factors that need consideration in determining the kind of profitable livestock production for a region. The variability of weather and climate provides a component in determining the profitability of the livestock enterprise. Climate imposes both direct and indirect effects on commercial animal agriculture. Animals, grown commercially on farms and ranches, are normally subjected to ambient environmental conditions. Literature has many examples of relationships between the performance of domestic animals and weather and climate events. Bolling and G. L. Hahn and Bolling report the results of a regression analysis relating climatic variables to rates of gain for beef animals. Hostile climates do cause mortality to domestic livestock. This hostility occurs as a result of both heat and cold stress. In summer, high temperature and humidities produce stress that can lead to death. Bolling presents analyses that document the weather impacts on cattle mortality under feedlot confinement.