By MARK BUTZOW Indiana Correspondent HOUSTON, Texas — Nature has created a crisis again for ranchers, as Hurricane Harvey unleashed record rainfall amounts over East Texas and into Louisiana, with some areas getting more than 40 inches of rain in a matter of days. It will be disaster for many livestock producers, and a lengthy recovery for others. Even before Harvey made landfall August 25, some ranchers started moving their cattle away from low-lying pastures.
The unprecedented rain totals, however, caught others off guard, forcing urgent and impromptu cattle drives to move cattle to safer spaces.
“Most of the producers started last Monday (August 28) moving cattle out of the coastal region,” said Texas A&M University extension specialist Tom “Andy” Vestal. “By Tuesday or Wednesday, they were asking producers who had cattle along rivers and watersheds to move their cattle.
“A lot of these guys have dealt with high water, but nothing like this. Who could’ve imagined 40 to 44 inches of rainfall?” National television coverage of Harvey has been largely focused on human rescues in Houston and other urban areas, but uploaded social media videos are bringing the agricultural impact to light. Dramatic video is plentiful showing cowboys, police and volunteers helping round up animals and leading them across flooded land or through stream beds to highways and onto dry ground.
Not all livestock will be so lucky, if producers were themselves unable to reach their stranded animals.
“A lot of those cattle are ones that were getting close to going to market, since it’s getting into fall here, so we know there’s a significant impact the welfare but also on the bottom line of those producers who were preparing to ship cattle,” said Colin Woodall, National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc. (NCBA) senior vice president for government affairs.
“As part of the last farm bill, NCBA was successful in getting a permanent disaster program included at USDA. Those programs will be triggered with the disaster declarations that were already announced for the counties in Texas,” he said.
“So, because of that, they will open up the opportunity for people to get money, not only in trying to provide indemnity for lost livestock, but also providing things such as fencing materials to try to rebuild fences as flood waters start to recede.”
Vestal said it’s too early to estimate how many head of cattle will be lost to the storm. Livestock owners should take photos, have identification numbers and have a third party verify death loss in order to file a claim under the USDA Farm Service Agency’s livestock indemnity program. The program reimburses producers for up to 75 percent of market value.
NCBA’s website at www.beefusa.org is a logical place to share information to a national audience wanting to learn how to help. Also serving that role is the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Assoc. (TSCRA), which has an extensive list of resources on its website at www.tscra.org
TSCRA is discouraging large-scale deliveries of feed and hay of the kind that
popped up in the wake of late-spring wildfires that scorched grasslands in
Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
“At this time, there is no need for hay to come in from outside Texas. We have had an exceptionally mild, wet summer, and there is an abundance of hay within the state.” The group, the Texas ag department and individual businesses are coordinating delivery of excess hay to herds that need it within the state.
TCBA said monetary donations would be best. “Everybody’s seen the Red Cross text code. You can text (REDCROSS to 90999) and donate $10. That’s great, but if you want to give money specifically to those affected in the agricultural and the cattle community, we have a link to the STAR Fund (State of Texas Agriculture Relief Fund),” said Ed Frank, NCBA’s director of policy and communications.
Midwest cattle producers and farm organizations are gearing up for trips in months ahead to support farmers and ranchers wherever they need extra hands, whether for installing new fencing, rebuilding barns, restoring fields or herding animals.
But for now, planning is all that’s called for. In Indianapolis, Midwest Food Banks has a response underway. In Tennessee, “We are currently pulling together resources, such as response trailers, livestock equipment and employees who may be able to assist; however, we have not been asked by Texas officials to send those resources,” said Samantha J. Jean, deputy director of communications with the state’s Department of Agriculture.
To deliver relief specifically to Texas’ farm and ranch community, Kentucky’s Alltech has launched Hope After Harvey, a relief fund seeded with a $20,000 donation. Alltech
will then match all donations made to its 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Alltech ACE Foundation. To give to Hope After Harvey, visit https://go.alltech.com/harveyrelief
The need will be great, although the number of cattle deaths can’t yet be determined. Texas is the biggest cattle and calf producer in the United States, and has the largest feedlot herd at 2.4 million head, according to the NCBA. Gross income in 2015 from cattle sales and marketing totaled $11.5 billion, according to USDA.
The 54 Texas counties declared federal disaster areas last week hold at least 1.2 million head of cattle, about 27 percent of the state’s herd, according to livestock economist David Anderson from Texas A&M. |
