Texas' Cattle Dying In Devastating Drought

(AP)  Drought conditions in Texas are so bad cattle are keeling over in parched pastures and dying.

Drought conditions worsened significantly in the past week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday. Seventy-one percent of the state is now in some stage of drought, up from 58.3 percent last week.

A week ago the two worst drought designations - extreme and exceptional - covered 9.1 percent of the state. This week the two categories cover 15.1 percent of the state, with a circle near San Antonio and Austin widening in all directions. Only the eastern and southeastern parts of Texas are without any drought status.

It all results in death for dozens of cows in Bastrop, south of Austin. At Dr. Lee Davis' veterinarian clinic, up to 10 cows a week have been brought in for treatment over the past month. They fell in pastures from weakness due to lack of grazing forage, and most didn't survive, Davis said.

"The problem is they're not getting enough energy because the grass is dead," Davis said. "Everywhere you go there's no grass. It's nothing but dirt."

Once a cow falls, bloodflow to muscles is diminished and chances of survival go down with time.

"It's hard to bring back a cow after it's been down for a couple of days," Davis said.

Even when given supplemental feed, some animals are left weak.

Lack of rainfall this past fall and into 2009 has left pastures barren. Cattle producers are instead feeding animals hay.

But there is a shortage of protein in some hay because some hay producers don't pay the high cost of fertilizer, which aids in building protein. Fertilizer prices are tied to natural gas prices.

Rachel Bauer, Texas AgriLife Extension agent for Bastrop County and a part-time rancher, has lost seven cows in the past six weeks.

"There is no outlook for any rainfall coming," she said.

The cause is a La Nina weather pattern settling over the central Pacific Ocean, bringing with it the likelihood of below normal rainfall and above normal temperatures.

Some cattle have gotten hurt trying to get water from drying stock ponds.

They seek out the ponds despite water troughs being set out, said Troy Tiner, who ranches in counties that include Bastrop, Travis, Fayette and Hays. He also puts out protein cubes to ensure his cattle get the proper nutrition.

"We keep them fed, but the killer is when they get stuck in mud holes," he said. "That's the biggest problem of everything."

Cattle producers are culling their animals and pulling cattle off pastures and arranging for supplement feed. Those planting crops this time of year are waiting for moisture.

The state has been drying out for several months. In late October, 71.3 percent of the state had no drought designation.

The parched land will respond if Mother Nature comes through.

"It's just amazing what a little rain will do," Tiner said. "Just a little bit of rain."

[Meg003]

When there is a natural disaster or unusual weather extremes anywhere, ranchers and farmers work long, extra hours trying to save their stock.

Of course, they also have to be aware that the state''s environmental agencies, implementing federal laws, are ready to pounce on them with penalties and threats of jail time if the animals are kept in a concentrated area without have a waste management plan in place and an expensive system of waste disposal, which can take many months and huge sums to initiate and maintain.

So the rancher or farmer cannot just change plans suddenly and bring hundreds or thousands of cattle in and water and feed them in a contained area, in quick response to a devastating situation, such as a drought or flooding. That is, even if water and hay could be quickly brought in to sustain them.

I wonder what all these people who love to bash farmers and ranchers eat? Do you even know that without farmers, the grocery stores would have no food???

[edintex]

Reason #11 of the 532 main reasons why I do not live in Texas.
There will be 533 reasons as of Tuesday of next week.
Posted by karlagolay at 12:10 PM : Jan 16, 2009

Keep on posting the reasons you do not live in Texas. Maybe more idiots like you will be convinced to stay away from Texas too. We''ve been getting too many yankees and west coast snobs moving over here.

Why dont you other states quit taxing your companies and people to to point they have to move to Texas where things are much better?

I used to always like seeing newcomers but we are starting to get swamped down here. Then of course they start trying to "fix" our laws & our way of living. Get em out of here, please...

[texbelle123]

oh good lord. Before posting on subjects about which you know absolutely nithing, you might try a little research. How many acres of grassland does it take to support a single cow, much less a herd? What happens when you ''herd them into a smaller area'' so you can feed and water them yourself (they do that at stock yards, by the way . . . not on the open range) and the collective urine output of the herd contaminates the underground water supply? It does, you know. Stock yards are carefully maintained so that the animal waste does no damage to the surrounding people and their environment. It takes lots of land and lots of grass.
The ranchers are not just letting these animals die. Every death is money out of their pockets and food out of the mouths of their families. If you are willing to pay $10 per pound of beef, they might could afford to truck in hay and other feed; but you can''t truck in water.
Do the research: the entire Southwestern part of the United States is being horribly damaged by lack of water and rainfall.
But then again, why actually KNOW what you are talking about before you post?

[swingset4u]

OH COME ON NOW!!!! If you are a cattle rancher YOU need to herd your cattle into a smaller area in order to feed and water your cattle. Simple!!! Why are no Animal abuse charges brought against these cattle ranchers? *** if you leave stale water for your dog outside then you would be slapped with a charge of animal cruelty! Oh, wait a sec.... they must be republican so it makes it okay....

[eraser8818]

I sure hope tucker is doing okay.:)

[observer2020]

Ok...why aren''t these people charged with animal cruelty? If we let our animals go hungry or without fresh water, we get the animals taken away from us, we are fined, and will probably have to serve a jail sentence. So why are these people charged with animal cruelty?

[babooph]

How is it the cattle guys can over stock the range,causing mass death without animal control arrests?