Cattle and calf losses from predator and non-predator causes in the U.S. totaled 4.05 million head (excluding Alaska), USDA's National Ag Statistics Service (NASS) reports. NASS says cattle and calf losses to animal predators totaled 190,000 head, 4.7% of the total losses from all causes, and represented a loss of $92.7 million to farmers and ranchers. Coyotes and dogs were the major culprit, accounting for 51.1% of cattle losses and 11.5% of calf losses.

The report says non-predator causes resulted in 3.86 million cattle deaths, or 95.3% of the total. Respiratory problems were the leading cause of non-predator deaths, accounting for 28.7%, followed by digestive problems at 16.8%.

Meanwhile, U.S. farmers and ranchers $199.1 million on non-lethal methods to control predators, with guard animals being the most common at 38%. Other common prevention tactics were exclusion fencing (34%), frequent checking (21.8%) and culling (19.6%). -- Joe Roybal