Agriculture is always a challenge, thanks to the weather. Even when things are going well farmers and ranchers are reluctant to trust their good fortune, knowing from experience how quickly it can turn on them. Last winter’s copious precipitation in California may have ended a years-long drought, great news for fruit and vegetable growers there, but this summer’s intense heat in the state is impacting livestock operators hard. Throughout California’s Central Valley, dairy cow mortality is reaching worrisome levels. In Fresno County alone, 4,000 to 6,000 livestock were killed by the heat during June.