LOS ANGELES, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Besides claiming more than 100 lives, record-breaking temperatures last month caused heavy agricultural losses in California, the most populous state in the United States.

    The heat wave killed tens of thousands of livestock and many farmers were unable to dispose of animal carcasses due to the fact that rendering plants were over capacity, the Governor's Office said on Wednesday.

    In addition to livestock deaths, farmers have reported significant damages to tomato, corn, grape, apple and plum crops, the office said.

    Preliminary losses to the dairy industry alone are estimated to exceed 1 billion U.S. dollars statewide, according to the office.

    The state has initiated a request to the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture (U.S.DA) to make emergency loans available to farmers and ranchers that experienced severe economic losses due to the heat.

    "The record-breaking heat wave now moving across the U.S. has left in its wake more than a billion dollars in damage to California's agriculture industry," said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on a tour of the hardest hit areas on Wednesday.

    "I urge the U.S.DA to speed relief efforts to California farmers and ranchers without waiting for final damage assessments to come in," said the governor.

    The governor is seeking congressional assistance to secure loans from the U.S.DA for crop losses and other economic damage through a program similar to the one used to aid Gulf Coast farmers and ranchers following the destructive 2005 hurricanes.

    Unrelenting heat wave smothered California for three weeks in July, pushing temperatures to record levels of 115 degrees Fahrenheit (45 Celsius) in many areas. Enditem