Cost of Texas drought climbing with each dry day

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jgxdK4eUJcwg5_CCaTCRoIDcOHuQ?docId=5b4ec72f4b5d4464bc6edd80acc82613

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — A historic drought has already cost Texas farmers and ranchers an estimated $1.5 billion, and the cost is growing daily as parched conditions persist in much of the state.

May is typically the wettest month in Texas, but parts of the state haven't seen significant rain since last August. Officials said if the drought continues into June, losses for the nation's second largest agriculture producer will top $4 billion, making it the costliest season on record.

"We're well on our way to breaking the record of the past," said Carl Anderson, an agricultural economist with Texas AgriLife Extension Service, referring to the 2006 season.

Anderson is 79 and has seen many droughts, but he said this year looks as bad as anything since the record dry years of the 1950s.

"This (drought) will match anything I saw in the '50s," he said.

The Lubbock area between Nov. 1 and Tuesday got just 1.17 inches of rain — about 17 percent of the normal 6.70 inches for that span.

Meteorologists blame the conditions on La Nina, a cooling of the Pacific waters near the equator. It's caused extreme drought in Texas and parts of Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico even as much of the eastern half of the nation endured wet, cold weather.

The drought has dried up cattle ponds and grass crunches underfoot in many fields.

Texas livestock producers have seen the biggest losses — about $1.2 billion of the $1.5 billion total, which includes increased feeding costs to pay for hay, lost value of wheat pasture grazing and the high costs associated with hauling water daily to meet animals' needs, Anderson said.

About 90 percent of Texas' beef cows are located in counties in severe to exceptional drought.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

1. 77 percent of the wheat crop in Texas is rated poor to very poor

Texas usually harvests 100 million bushels of wheat a year. So far this harvest has been all but a total flop. The rains didn't come and what did come came too late. Some fields were destroyed by fire last month in North Texas. Basically, what we're looking at is if it wasn't irrigated it's not happening. I've heard Texas' crops described this year as "horrible."

Considering the long term forecasts I don't expect to see the cotton harvest this year to be anything but a failure as well.

In many regions where hay is routinely cultivated to feed cattle across the state either the drought, fires or both have decimated the crops. As was mentioned in the article the price of shipping in hay is extreme this year due to fuel prices and reduced supply.

All of this is coming off the record drought of 2005/2006, which broke in 2007 and then came back in 2008-2009 and broke in 2010. It's back again and with a vengeance. :(

[w8liftinglady]

2. before I was a nurse,I was a livestock inspector.

cattle- evn in My area, are looking skinny,poor coats.
This has widespread effects on Texas economics.