Texas Ranchers & Farmers Flattened By Record Drought Losses - LA Times

[hatrack]

CANTON, Texas — The effects of a long, stubborn drought are everywhere here: in the parched, wasted fields and the bony cows nosing the dirt for nonexistent grass; in the cracks splitting stone-hard earth and the worried faces of farmers running out of savings, and options. "It's sad when you see what's going on all around you," said Windy Watkins, a feed-store manager. "This has been the lives of so many for so long, and now it's gone. It's heartbreaking."

Canton, a rural cattle- and sweet-potato-producing area 60 miles east of Dallas, is hardly alone in its misery. From Florida to Arizona and north through the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin, drought has wiped out summer crops and forced ranchers to sell cattle they can no longer afford to feed. Crop and livestock losses have reached a record $4.1 billion in Texas alone this year, nearly double the $2.1-billion mark set in 1998, according to Texas Cooperative Extension economists. The projected loss for rural businesses that provide equipment and services to Texas farmers and ranchers is an additional $3.9 billion. "It's as bad as it gets," said Texas A&M University agronomist Travis Miller.

Last week, federal agriculture officials promised nearly $800 million to ranchers and farmers nationwide, an amount state lawmakers, farm organizations and ranchers called a pittance. "That's like me spitting out there for the cows to get a drink," said sweet-potato farmer Lamar Bass, shooting a glance at the cracked ground on his Canton farm.

With no prospects for rain, farmers can either call it quits or dig deeper into debt, he said. "That tractor over yonder?" Bass said, pointing to the left. "Mortgaged. That other tractor? Mortgaged. That truck next to it is mortgaged. Mortgaged, mortgaged, mortgaged…. I tell the banker this is more his than mine." In a field of wilting vines, Bass digs through the sandy dirt and pulls up a lone sweet potato. "There should be six or eight sweet potatoes with this, and there's just the one," he said. But at least the field is producing something, he added. In a scene repeated across the country, a nearby field is overgrown with dried weeds, the ground too scorched to plant.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-drought3sep03,1,3919964,full.story

[xchrom]

1. my advise -- don't vote republican.

support farm subsidies for small farmers.

stop over subsidising corporate agri business.

etc., etc, etc,.

[MuseRider]

2. I have seen a lot of semi's

heading south filled with hay. Too bad because we are going to need it here too and the price is going up. If I had had a good crop I would be sending some down for free. I hate how they take such advantage of people in real trouble. Last time this got so bad people here were selling their hay to Texas for $7 or $8 a bale, double or more the going price then.