TX Dept. Of Agriculture - Drought Damages Since Last October Now Stand At $5.2 Billion And Counting

[hatrack]

EDIT

The Texas Department of Agriculture says the record-setting drought that began in October has resulted in a staggering $5.2 billion in losses for rural farm communities, the greatest seasonal loss on record. Cattle ranchers have lost $2 billion, while the hit to the cotton industry is put at about $1.8 billion. That's just a preliminary estimate of the overall damage and doesn't include smaller crops like lettuce.

"I've been involved in cattle and calf production my entire life, and I have never seen these types of conditions across Texas," said Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples in an interview. "Texans are suffering through the worst one-year drought on record, and this calamity is just getting worse by the day."

The hit to rural communities by this year's drought has been well-documented. Towns like Robert Lee and Llano have slipped at or near the brink. Only a couple of months of water supplies are left in their reservoirs. Many Texas cattle ranchers have sold off most or all of their herds as forage dried to a crisp. Hay prices have nearly tripled.

"We've been selling livestock double, almost triple our normal numbers all summer," said Charley Christensen, general manager of the Producers Livestock Auction in San Angelo, one of the nation's largest. Christensen said he's been auctioning off nearly 4,000 head each week, mainly to out-of-state cattlemen looking to take advantage of falling livestock prices to supplement their herds. Every creek is dry, and normally strong rivers have been reduced to pathetic trickles. Cotton, sorghum and wheat crops have been hit badly, and if no rain comes soon, next year's winter wheat crop will be all but wiped out, too.

EDIT

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/08/24/24climatewire-record-setting-agricultural-disaster-in-texa-51381.html

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Well, I'm sure the state of Texas will cover all claims and not call upon the federal government

for assistance.

[dtexdem]

2. Hey, Perry, how's that pray-for-rain thing workin' forya?

jus askin