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South Dakota.
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• RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -- An early October blizzard that killed thousands of cattle in western South Dakota will have a staggering impact on the regional economy, the head of the state Stockgrowers Association said.
• The cattle in the area before the blizzard were worth $550 million, with a potential economic impact of $1.7 billion in the region. But many of those cattle died in the storm, Stockgrowers Executive Director Silvia Christen told the Rapid City Council on Monday night.
• State Veterinarian Dustin Oedekoven has estimated cattle losses at between 15,000 and 30,000. Affected ranchers also won't be buying trucks, eating at restaurants and participating in activities, Christen said.
• "This is going to have an impact on Rapid City. Most of these producers, their financial institutions are based here, their attorney services are here, their (cattle) feed," she said.
• About $300,000 has been donated to a relief fund set up since the Oct. 4 blizzard dumped up to 4 feet of snow on the region, Christen said.
• "We've received donations from 48 states and three different countries, including some really generous donations from individuals who I know are scraping together to make that donation," she said. "They have a lot of empathy for what our producers are dealing with."
• Ranchers in northwestern Nebraska and southwestern North Dakota also suffered heavy cattle losses. So far there has been no federal aid because a government program to help ranchers recover livestock losses has expired, and Congress has yet to pass a new farm bill.
• Aaron Krauter, North Dakota state executive director for the U.S. Farm Service Agency, which handles federal farm programs, told Agweek that he was optimistic Congress would pass a new farm bill that reauthorizes funding for the program and makes it retroactive to cover losses from the blizzard.
• Some ranchers have private insurance that would compensate them for at least part of their blizzard-related losses, but such insurance is rare, said Jesse Konold, with Key Insurance in Mobridge, S.D. Konold told Agweek that he estimates only about one-fifth of his company's clients have the insurance, which can cost as much as $7 for each $1,000 of coverage.
• "That's a big hit to profits," Konold said.

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