Oregon Public Broadcasting

Snow, flooding, avalanches and mud slides have had a big impact on people in the Northwest, but it’s also making life difficult on cows.

Turns out Northwest dairy cattle don't like the bad weather either. In fact, the animals can sometimes stop producing as much milk if they get stressed out. Richland Correspondent Anna King reports.

Jay Gordon has been battling the weather since the first snow fell on his Elma, Washington farm.

First, he was shoveling snow off of barns so they didn’t collapse. Now, he’s had to evacuate 100 calves to higher ground. Fourteen feet of water have swamped some of his pastures.

Gordon is worried because many his “girls,” as he put it, are standing in open fields with no protection from the elements.

Jay Gordon: "You know your dog isn’t happy when it’s soaking wet. And cows are just like a big wet dog. They are just a little grumpy and don’t want to give you as much milk. They’ll eat less and they like a nice warm bed just like we do."

Gordon also heads the Washington Dairy Federation. He’s gotten reports from struggling dairy farmers across the Northwest. Dozens of barns have collapsed from snow.

Despite the cow calamity, Gordon says consumers should still have plenty of milk for their morning cereal.