Bitter cold worries farmers and ranchers

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - A blanket of frigid air moving across part of the United States Wednesday tied up transportation and sparked farmer fears of damage to crops and livestock.

In northern Minnesota, temperatures dropped to 40 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, and record lows near that were recorded in North Dakota as single-digit and sub-zero temperatures spread through a broad swath of the country's northern and central tiers.

As the bitter cold moved south and combined with snow and ice in some areas, the sudden plunge in temperature fueled farmer fears that vulnerable young wheat plants could suffer, and ranchers fretted over how to keep weight on cattle and hogs for market.

"Everything is harder when it is cold," said Kevin Gilbert, a hog producer in Ionia, Iowa, where single-digit temperatures were forecast to fall to 18 degrees Fahrenheit below zero on Thursday.

"It is the wind that gets you," he added.

The cold has had cattle eating through feed supplies so quickly that ranchers have been selling off animals to make the feed last, said Darryl Howard, chief brand inspector for the North Dakota Stockmen's Association.

"It has taken a considerable toll on feed supplies," said Howard. "It has caused some herd reduction."

The harsh conditions were complicating truck transportation of grain and livestock in some areas, but river and ground movement of commodities through the Plains and Midwest remained mostly unhindered.

Subzero temperatures were forecast through Friday morning. North-central Kansas and south-central Nebraska, key hard red winter wheat-producing areas, were forecast to see lows ranging for zero to -10 degrees F,

"This is the coldest weather we've seen in a few years," said DTM Meteorlogix forecaster Mike Palmerino.

Soft red winter wheat areas in the southern Midwest were also threatened, Palmerino said.

Frigid temperatures, coupled with a lack of snowcover, can kill off parts of the wheat plant if the ground lacks adequate protective snow and soil moisture.

Still, the bitter conditions were expected to be short-lived, with a warming trend forecast for this weekend.

"It's chilly and it's getting colder," said South Dakota Agriculture Department deputy director George Williams. "But we're dealing with it. We're used to it."

(Additional reporting by Bob Burgdorfer and Christine Stebbins in Chicago; Editing by John Picinich)