During the seven-year drought of the 1950s, the old-timers of that era told tales about the drought of the 1930s being worse: “Why, it was so dry that jackrabbits west of the Pecos grazed at full gallop to keep from starving to death.”
Although droughts come in cycles, each one seems worse than the one before. But with every drought in the Southwest, farmers and ranchers have always managed to struggle through and find ways to improve the land and move forward.
In 1935, the soil conservation program was created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in response to the Dust Bowl devastation. The Soil Conservation Service’s mission was to prevent erosion and conserve soil on agricultural land. After the 1950s drought, farmers across the Texas Plains drilled thousands of new irrigation wells and developed center pivot systems.
There was a three-year drought in the late 1980s that covered 36 percent of the United States, with West Texas in the middle. Although short in comparison to other droughts, it was the most expensive, according to the Palmer Drought Severity Index. Combining the losses in energy, water, ecosystems and agriculture, the total cost of that three-year drought (1987-1989) was estimated at $39 billion.
Already, in the 21st century, a drought crept back into West Texas after a wet 2007. When it stopped raining in the fall of 2007, the combination of heavy grass growth and dry conditions prevailed.
In February, 2008, a wildfire burned more than 200,000 acres of rangeland in Sterling, Reagan, Irion and Tom Green counties. It started from a downed power line. High wind gusts whipped the hot wires about the densely grasscovered pastures.
In recent years, conservation practices such as crop rotation, terraces, waterways, windbreaks, wetland restoration, notill farming, buffers, watershed dams, rangeland management, ponds, nutrient and pest management have improved the environment and lowered the possibility of dust storms.
Yet, without adequate rainfall, all of that could be lost again. It is said that the common tale for farmers is that the land is either too wet or too dry. This spring it is too dry, especially for the dryland farm, where crops depend solely on rainfall for survival. Many farmers who started breaking the land this April have stopped planting rather than disturb the powder dry soil.
The current drought is being called the Lone Star State’s worst drought since 1917, and now it is being matched with a record outbreak of wildfires. The worst wildfire season ever has burned more than 1.5 million acres (about 2,400 square miles), 250 homes and counting across Texas.
“Texas wildfires have turned hopes and dreams into ashes,” writes Mike Barnett of the Waco-based Texas Farm Bureau. “N.L. Winter, who ranches north of Abilene, lost the home he was born in, the tworoom house his father built in 1910, and the house where he and his late wife, Leta, raised their three children. Much of his 1,400 acre ranch is charred.”
“It’s the worst fire I’ve ever seen,” the 105-year-old cowboy told the Abilene Reporter-News.
At church last Sunday, someone asked why there were not wildfires spawned by the 1950s drought. Well, I remember spending the day with my dad in the pastures burning prickly pear for the cattle. The only thing green and growing was the pear. The earth was powder dry between the rocks throughout the Hill Country. When the needles were singed on the pear, the flame was out and didn’t travel.
Fast forward, ranchers were already struggling as 2010 ended, with having to sell livestock because no rainfall had come to replenish pastures with green grass. Now, if livestock survived the fires, they are no doubt lost.
Steve Sturtz, Tom Green County agriculture agent, called me from his cellphone on the Coke-Tom Green county line where he found five bulls on an unburned spot near a Soil Conservation District sign. Miles and miles of fencing has been damaged by the fire and turned many ranches back to open range, much like the 1800s. When this is all over, imagine the cost of replacing fences at more than $10,000 per mile.
With supply short and demand strong, West Texas agriculture is suffering in triplicate - drought, range fire and economically. For most farmers and ranchers, these hard times have arrived at the worst time. The sheep and cattle markets have reached record prices. The cotton futures reached record highs at more than $2 per pound.
“This is a bad drought situation shaping up and its impact will only get larger if it doesn’t rain soon,” said David Anderson, an agricultural economist at Texas A&M University in College Station.
Jerry Lackey writes about agriculture. Contact him at jlackey@ wcc.net or 325-949-2291.
