Texas Farmer Fights The Drought

Like all Texas farms this year, Jim Fuqua's "Lazy U Ranch" has baked under triple-digit temperatures and has gone weeks without rain. This summer, trying to grow wheat and raise cattle in Quanah, Texas, is like a roll of the dice, according to Fuqua.

"I'm an educated guesser and I don't think the people in Vegas hold a candle to a farmer or a rancher," he says.

"Here the odds change every second. The weather is not predictable."

It's not predictable unless you're Jim Fuqua. Where other ranches have all but dried up, and where profits turned to dust, Fuqua's watering holes are not all dry. He's even got a few green pastures and plenty of hay.

How has Fuqua mounted such an effective defense against Mother Nature's fickle ways? Simple: he turned on his computer.

He logged onto an internet website run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admistration (NOAA) and found predictions of a summer drought. Now studying weather charts has become as much a part of his day as maintaining farm equipment and feeding cattle.

Even with Fuqua's extensive use of the weather data he will probably lose money this year. Logging onto your computer to check out the long range weather patterns can't yield perfect answers. After all, no one predicted the intensity of this years drought.

When other farmers throughout Texas have forced to sell their cattle because of the drought, Fuqua has been able to save his.

"The difference between losing money and having a catastrophe is what we're aiming for," he says. "We'll lose a little money, but we'll still be here next year."

Fuqua says that the forecast for next year indicates a possibly dry fall, dry winter, and another dry spring.

For the short term, NOAA is predicting at least some rain for September, so Fuqua says he'll go ahead and plant some wheat, but only about an inch deep. If he plants the seeds any deeper, a light rain might not soak through.