(Photo: WBOC)CENTREVILLE, Md. - The blistering temperatures and the drought are affecting dairy farmers and hindering their livestock more than one might think.
"When it gets extremely hot, production drops off. That's cow production- what we call milk production- and it starts dropping down. And of course, for a dairy farmer that's what pays the bills around here," said dairy farmer Franklin Moore.
Moore's fans are working overtime and his sprinklers are running non-stop to help his animals stay cool. But with heat like this, it is just not enough.
"The heat is so hard on them," Moore said. "When it gets 100 degrees on these cows, they just can't consume enough feed to keep the production up and we have fans running and water sprinklers running to keep everything cool as possible."
Moore has crop insurance on his corn and soybeans but when it comes to his most valuable possessions, there is no such insurance available. Grain farmers can use disaster crop insurance, but dairy farmers do not have that luxury and will certainly take a loss this year.
"Dairy farmers have been meeting the Washington legislators and trying to get some easement on this because it's our livelihood and we can't stay in business if we can't pay our bills," Moore said.
Moore hopes livestock insurance is created soon to ease his financial worries.
