Posted: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:50 AM - 13,041 Readers
By: Farzad Mashhood
Forecasters say they are "cautiously optimistic" that scattered showers will occur Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but say they don't expect drought-ending precipitation.
Meanwhile, farmers are watching their crops wither, and ranchers are selling off their cattle as pastures turn to dust and feed prices balloon.
Droughts cost the Texas agriculture industry $4.1 billion in 2006 and $3.8 billion in 2009, said Travis Miller, with the Texas A&M University System's Agrilife Extension Service.
"The pattern looks much worse than in 2006 and 2009," Miller added.
Sixty-four percent of Texas is in an exceptional drought, the highest rating the Agrilife Extension Service gives, Miller said. More than 98 percent of the state is in some stage of drought, he said.
Chuck Schmidt , 54, co-owner of Fredericksburg Grassfed Beef , which supplies meat locally, said grazing grass is gone. Forced to buy hay, Schmidt said that he usually pays $40 a bale but that the cost has shot to $100. A pond that stores water for his cattle went dry last Monday — for the first time in more than 40 years, he said.
With his bottom line drying up, Schmidt said he is trying to sell off harvest-ready cattle earlier than usual so he does not have to keep feeding them. He also has been forced to sell cattle meant for breeding.
"We're selling the heart and soul of our herd," he said.
In Austin, Green Gate Farms co-owner Skip Connett said that because of the drought, he has lost about a third of his harvest.
Connett said he is worried about growing enough produce to meet his commitment to 100 customers who have paid for vegetables through July. His operation, part of the community-supported agriculture movement, delivers throughout the growing season.
"My problem is I've got six weeks ... left, but this now feels like when I'm close to the end," Connett said.
As a small farmer, he's not eligible for crop insurance, he said.
For his other customers — restaurants and people at farmers markets — he said he does not want to raise his prices in midseason.
Connett said he has suffered through droughts in three of the past six years he's been farming in Austin. He now plans to change the way he farms, growing year-round and stopping earlier in the summer.
"I wonder is it possible to grow vegetables out here," Connett said. "It seems almost impossible to do it well."
The drought is "wreaking havoc" in Williamson County, where most farmers don't use irrigation, so they must rely on rainfall, said Jared Ripple, an extension service agent in Georgetown.
"All the cornfields are pretty much dried up already, and I've noticed some farmers who are just chopping it down and baling it," Ripple said.
Some of the sorghum fields "look pretty good," but sorghum, primarily used as a livestock feed, is naturally more drought-resistant, he said.
Cotton started growing when there was a bit more rain a few weeks ago, but now the drought has stunted its growth, he said. "If we start getting more rain, there's plenty of potential for that."
The last significant rains fell in September. According to the National Weather Service, Austin received 8.34 inches of rain from October to May at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, compared with a historical average of 21.46 inches during that period. At Camp Mabry, 8.96 inches have fallen, well shy of the 22.44-inch average for the period.
Rain this week could come as a weak system from the north meets a developing low-pressure system from the Gulf. There's a 20 to 30 percent chance of rain Wednesday, and it could hang around through the end of the week, weather service meteorologist Pat McDonald said.
Heavier rain could come to Houston, Corpus Christi, Victoria and other coastal areas, McDonald said, but the Austin and San Antonio regions probably won't get as much.
The rains won't bring an end to the drought, however. For that, McDonald said, "we need a large tropical system to sit over us for three or four days."
