By Alexandria Sage; editing by Eric Beech
VENICE | Tue Jul 20, 2010 3:33pm EDT VENICE Louisiana (Reuters) – The cattle in these parts don’t seem to mind the helicopters hauling oil booms overhead, nor the response boats hurrying past their banks. But the oil that British energy giant BP is scrambling to clean up from its massive Gulf of Mexico spill threatens the animals’ grazing land and the income of the ranchers who own them. Over 1,000 head of cattle graze on marshy islands off Louisiana’s southeast tip and thousands more are found in the coastal low-lying pastures highly susceptible to flooding. The petroleum and cattle industries have managed to co-exist over the years. But now, ranchers fear a hurricane in this watery southeastern area of the state could wash the oil onto grazing land, poisoning their livestock and ruining their value. “We don’t have a clue what this oil will do,” said Robert Joyner, who heads the Louisiana Cattlemen’s Association. “It’s a whole ‘nother ball game.” Louisiana is home to about 450,000 head of cattle valued last year at $365 million. But the best pasture land is in the coastal south, where cattle can graze year-round. Even before the oil spill it was a challenge being a cattleman here, where many animals can only be moved by barge. Calves succumb to alligators and snake bites, corrals need constant maintenance amid the quick-growing vegetation, and erosion and rising water levels steal valuable pasture every year. And then there are the hurricanes. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 killed 1,800 of Earl Armstrong’s cattle. The next hurricane could pack a double wallop, with the additional danger of toxins brought ashore. “I’m not being happy with the oil right now,” said Armstrong, whose cattle graze at the mouth of the Mississippi River, not far from the oil spill clean-up’s command center. “I don’t know when it’s going to come in on that cattle where they have to eat that grass. It’s a wait-and-see deal.” …
Gulf cattle ranchers fear toxins after oil spill
