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Drought hurting county growers
Published July 8, 2009
Every year, farmers and ranchers roll the dice hoping the weather and circumstances will bring them a winning crop.
This year they’re losing.
Though Brazoria County saw some sprinkles and clouds Tuesday, the small amount that hit the ground will do little to alleviate what has been classified as an extreme drought, the worst since the mid-1950s.
Though the average resident is feeling the heat, few feel it like the county’s farmers and ranchers, who are faced with harvesting a third less of their crop than normal, said Corrie Bowen, the county’s agriculture extension agent.
“It’s creating lots of challenges,” Bowen said. “That’s farming and ranching: challenges no matter what.”
The Brazoria County Airport in Angleton has had just more than 7 inches total rainfall this year, Bowen said. Usually by the end of June the county has seen, on average, 27 inches of rain, Bowen said. On the Keeth-Byram Drought Index, Brazoria County has a score of 699 on a scale from zero to 800, he said.
That has left farmers and ranchers hoping previous good years are enough to cover losses they will suffer this year.
Kim Teykl helps run the two family businesses: Damon Farm and Ranch Service Center and the family ranch.
“It’s not good,” Teykl said. “The hot temperatures and lack of moisture are taking their toll.”
CATTLE
In an effort to ease the stress on pasture land, ranchers are sending their calves to market earlier and culling herds of late breeders and older cattle, despite the fact prices are currently on the low side for cattle, Bowen said.
Ranchers are looking at 48 to 54 cents per pound when they normally can get 60 cents per pound in an average year, he said.
As the market is flooded with cattle, the price only decreases as supply becomes greater than demand.
Though ranchers normally would supplement their grass use with hay, they are having a hard time locating hay and some are going to other counties to buy hay to feed their cattle, Bowen said.
Many ranchers grow hay themselves, but they have seen a decrease in hay production of up to 80 percent this year, he said.
“Pasture lands across the county are doing pretty bad,” Bowen said.
ROW CROPS
Across the board, grain harvest has seen some good yields, Bowen said. A good crop of grain sorghum yields 5,000 to 6,000 pounds per acre, but some farmers are seeing as little as 2,000 pounds per acre in fields that have received the least amount of rain or that have the lightest soil, he said.
The yield also depends on when the crop was planted and where it is located, Bowen said.
Teykl has heard reports from several farmers of grain weakening to the point that when rain does come, it knocks over the grain, Teykl said. This damaged grain can be rejected at some elevators, he said.
Corn hasn’t been harvested, but producers doubt the corn crop will do any better than grain because of the stress the crops have gone through, Bowen said.
“It’s pretty tough,” he said.
The stress can cause aflatoxins in corn to be high, which means it will be rejected as feed for cattle, Teykl said.
The cotton harvest is expected to be mediocre, Teykl said. He expects to see 50 to 75 percent of the average.
Though farmers usually purchase crop insurance, Teykl believes most producers will harvest just enough so they will be unable to collect insurance, he said.
RICE
Though grain harvest is beginning in the area, rice is the county’s cash crop and is holding its own this year thanks to heavy irrigation. But even irrigation during a drought year comes with its own set of problems.
Michael Wollam farms 6,000 acres near Alvin. Though his rice crop is looking good, he has had to pay the normal $110 per acre to access water from the Brazos River and an additional $65 fee per acre because of the drought in central Texas, Wollam said.
The fees allow lakes in Central Texas to be released to the Brazos River.
In addition, rice farmers are having to use more water to make up for the lack of rainfall, said Jimmy McCormick, a farmer northeast of Liverpool.
“We’re going to have to absorb the cost for sure,” McCormick said.
Rice farmers are most worried about next year. The Brazos River needs to have a good flow to allow the farmers to plant their crops, Wollam said. Central Texas needs to receive rains this fall to get the river where it needs to be for planting time next spring, he said.
In addition, though farmers likely will have no problems harvesting their first crop of rice, they might not be allowed to use water from the Brazos River to grow their second crop of rice, he said.
A lot of the times, the first crop of rice breaks the farmer even and the second crop of rice makes the profit, Bowen said.
When the Brazos River Authority decides who can gets the water from the Brazos River, farmers are low on their priority list, Wollam said. That means the water to their crops can be shut off at any time to make sure enough is getting to cities and industries, he said.
Though the year has been tough, farmers and ranchers continue to do their job.
“We’ve seen hardships all of my life,” Wollam said.
To him, these struggles and stresses are just an accepted part of farming.
“Our farmers and ranchers are probably the most resilient people,” Bowen said. “They’ll make it, but our hearts go out to them.
“We’ll see what next year brings,” Bowen said.
Katlynn Lanham is a reporter for The Facts. Contact her at (979) 237-0150.
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