18,000 cows killed in explosion, fire at Texas dairy farm may be largest cattle killing ever
An enormous fire at a west Texas dairy farm left 18,000 head of cattle dead, representing about 90% of the farm’s total herd. The cows, mostly Holstein and Jersey, were in a large holding pen before being milked. The South Fork Dairy farm in Castro County had opened just over three years ago and employed 50 to 60 people. The cause of the fire is still being investigated, but a malfunction in a piece of farm equipment is thought to have caused an explosion that led to the blaze. The Texas emergency services and AgriLife Extension Service are assisting in the cleanup of the carcasses. The fire was the deadliest involving cattle since the Animal Welfare Institute, a Washington-based animal advocacy group, began tracking barn and farm fires in 2013, surpassing the previous high set by a 2020 fire that consumed about 400 cows in upstate New York. Texas is the home of 319 Grade A dairies with an estimated 625,000 cows that produce almost 16.5 billion pounds of milk each year. Castro County is the second-highest-producing county in Texas, with 15 dairies yielding 148,000 pounds of milk a month.
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