Texas cattle ranchers need water, aid fast

Texas cattle ranchers need water, aid fast
March 24, 2009

http://supermarketguru-com.advantex.net/index.cfm/go/sg.viewArticle/articleId/363

The perfect storm is about to hit Texas cattle ranchers—and the U.S. beef industry and consumers could soon be worse off as a result.

This past January and February comprised the driest start of any year on record in the United States. That covers more than a century, meteorologists told USA Today. John Nielsen-Gammon, the climatologist for Texas, said the past eight months were the state’s driest ever.

The result: parched land, little grass for cows to graze, and ranchers selling off parts of their herds, including mother cows used to produce calves and regenerate herds. Some ranchers’ herds are already one-third smaller, and the sell-offs are continuing, auctioneers told the paper.

Texas Governor Rick Perry asked that all 254 counties be designated as disaster areas for 2009, and noted that “farmers and ranchers are unable to control the cause of their economic and physical losses, which exceed state, local and private sector assistance.”

Added Dr. Allan McGinty, Texas AgriLife Extension Service range specialist at San Angelo, “Soil moisture is almost non-existent in a large majority of our counties, resulting in an absence of cool-season forage plants for livestock. Dry forage conditions, higher than normal daytime temperatures and wind have added the additional risk of wildfire across most of the state.”

To read the full article: http://supermarketguru-com.advantex.net/index.cfm/go/sg.viewArticle/articleId/363