So this is a farmer in Central Kansas (so not quite the same region, but right next door) giving his professional opinion on what happened with the supposed cattle die off. Some TLDR's:

1. "10,000 dead cattle" was across the entire state, which is utterly trivial in comparison to the 2.5 million heads of cattle in the state.

2. 2,000-3,000 of that was at a handful of feedlots in SW Kansas (around Dodge City and Garden City). Which he admits can be suspicious to the average layman, BUT...

3. That part of the state is usual dry and has very little humidity, and it had been fairly cool for most of the first part of the year. Then it rained frequently in the span of a few weeks and raised the heat and humidity. There had also been no wind, so the hot air was very stagnant and sitting over the area.

4. In the wake of a storm that recently rolled through, the heat and humidity increased significantly in a short timespan (the temp went up almost 20F in less than 48 hours).

5. There had been a heat burst in the area, which is a very localized and extremely rapid increase in heat, which can be extreme heat (over 120+ have been reported before). It happened overnight, when the cattle had already been stressed from a hot day, so they had had no real time to cool off.

6. Almost all of the deaths were Black Angus cattle, which are normally very vulnerable to heat. This goes doubly so for the ones at the feedlots, as they are fattened up, making them even more vulnerable to the heat than normal.

So this is a farmer in Central Kansas (so not quite the same region, but right next door) giving his professional opinion on what happened with the supposed cattle die off. Some TLDR's:

1. "10,000 dead cattle" was across the entire state, which is utterly trivial in comparison to the 2.5 million heads of cattle in the state.

2. 2,000-3,000 of that was at a handful of feedlots in SW Kansas (around Dodge City and Garden City). Which he admits can be suspicious to the average layman, BUT...

3. That part of the state is usual dry and has very little humidity, and it had been fairly cool for most of the first part of the year. Then it rained frequently in the span of a few weeks and raised the heat and humidity. There had also been no wind, so the hot air was very stagnant and sitting over the area.

4. In the wake of a storm that recently rolled through recently, the heat and humidity increased significantly in a short timespan (the temp went up almost 20F in less than 48 hours).

5. There had been a heat burst in the area, which is a very localized and extremely rapid increase in heat, which can be extreme heat (over 120+ have been reported before). It happened overnight, when the cattle had already been stressed from a hot day, so they had had no real time to cool off.

6. Almost all of the deaths were Black Angus cattle, which are normally very vulnerable to heat. This goes doubly so for the ones at the feedlots, as they are fattened up, making them even more vulnerable to the heat than normal.