WilCo farmers ponder future


By Beth Wade and Samantha Bryant


Friday, 09 December 2011

Texas agricultural losses hit record $5.2 billion as of August

WILLIAMSON COUNTY — Doug Fell, owner of Doug Fell Cattle and manager of Avery Farms Joint Venture in Hutto and Round Rock, drives around his pasture in the middle of November surveying his cattle herd. The creek, which divides portions of his property, has completely dried up, and the rich Blackland soil typically covered in green grass has begun to crack under the heat of the sun.

Click for larger image
Click for larger image

Fell is one of many farmers and ranchers in Williamson County having to cope with one of the worst droughts in Texas history.

“Normally we make about 700–800 bales [of hay] in a decent, normal, wet year,” Fell said. “This past year, we made zero because of the drought.”

Fell relies on those bales of hay to feed his herd of Black Angus cattle during the late fall and winter months, usually beginning in late November. The lack of rain has caused not only his hay crop to dry up, but pastures that typically re-grow and provide feed throughout the summer months have become barren, which caused Fell to begin supplementing the herd’s diets in May.

“We didn’t get any moisture to get any kind of grass,” he said. “[The grass] ain’t even an inch; in fact, it’s down to the roots. We’ve always managed our pastures really well. We haven’t been able to [this year]; nobody has around here. [The cows] have to work, work, work, just to get a little bit [of the grass.]”

Fell purchased 500 bales of hay from local farmers who were unable to yield crops and has an order for another 250 bales from a producer in Louisiana. His cattle are also being fed Molasses mineral licks.

WilCo agriculture impact

Gene Hall, spokesman for the Texas Farm Bureau, said a report released in August by Texas AM University found that Texas has suffered a record $5.2 billion in direct agricultural losses.

He said this amount eclipses the 2006 record, when the agricultural industry lost about $4 billion. In addition to the drought, farmers and ranchers across Texas also had to deal with damage from wildfires.

Crop yields were down by 75 percent and in some cases, 100 percent, in Williamson County, said Bob Avant, president of the Williamson County Farm Bureau.

The four primary crops in the county are corn, grain sorghum, wheat and cotton. Most of the more than 150,000 acres of farmland is located east of Toll 130.

Avant said that although cotton is the most drought-tolerant of the four, crop yields were down by 60 percent to 70 percent, and some farmers did not get a harvest this year.

“I’m almost 62 years old, and this is the first time in my life I’ve ever seen farmers bale up cotton, whole cotton stalks, to feed it to cattle because there was not enough cotton there to harvest, and so their only alternative was to bale it up and feed it to cattle,” he said.

The drought has also affected the cattle industry. Avant said ranchers have been forced to sell off their herds due to no grass for grazing and a lack of hay to feed their animals. Stock ponds are also low or completely dried up from the scarcity of rainfall.

Fell said he has had to cull about 80 percent of the Avery Farms herd over the past two years, and if conditions do not improve within six months, he may be forced to sell off some of his Fell cattle herd, which are registered Black Angus cattle.

“I can’t afford to sell [the registered cattle] for one-third of what they are worth, so I’m keeping them,” Fell said. “But like Charles Dickens said, ‘It was the best of times and it was the worst of times.’ Well, that’s the way I look at it. The worst being the worst drought we have ever seen, the best being there is going to be a huge opportunity for Texas ranchers whenever the drought ends to get back in and enormously improve the quality of their cattle.”

Agriculture in 2012

Although 2011 took a record-breaking toll on Texas agriculture, Avant said weather predictions for 2012 are not showing a change for the new year.

“What worries us more is it looks like we are in a cycle that could lead to another year just like the one that we just got out of,” he said.

Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said the winter is expected to be drier than normal, with Texas having an about 80 percent chance of getting less rainfall than usual.

Weather patterns in the tropical Pacific Ocean also indicate that another year of drought is likely, although Nielsen-Gammon said there is no way to predict for sure if the drought will continue throughout 2012.

In Taylor, he said the rainfall total in 2011 through October was 9.05 inches, compared with the normal yearly total by October of 29.56 inches.

The success of spring planting depends on rainfall in the latter two months of the year, Avant said.

Parts of Williamson County received about three inches of rainfall in November, which Avant said will help with the winter crops, but significant rainfall is still needed for there to be a good harvest in the spring.

Help for farmers

The Williamson County Farm Bureau and Agrilife Extension office give advice and information to help farmers and ranchers make decisions about their industry.

“Over the years, farmers have done a lot to try to economize—use less fuel, bigger equipment, fewer trips over the field just to economize, Avant said. “There’s not much you can do in terms of adapting to a devastating drought, unless you have irrigation.”

Irrigation is not an option for most Williamson County farmers because of the lack of groundwater and surface water sources. Some use the San Gabriel River, but that source is low, and the Brazos River Authority has also curtailed irrigation to conserve water, Avant said.

Craig Engelmann, executive director for the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency in Williamson County, said the agency began offering financial assistance to ranchers in the spring through its Livestock Forage Assistance Program. Emergency loans became available this summer.

The Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments program covers actual crop losses that were sustained due to natural disasters such as the drought. Engelmann said they would begin taking applications for the 2011’s losses in 2012.

“I anticipate that we’ll have a very large number of applications for that program, just because this year, this drought was devastating for all crops,” he said.

Fell said he would try to hold on to his cattle as long as it makes financial sense, but as the drought persists, business has become a month-to-month waiting game.

“We are managing right now—as far as feed goes—out six months. That’s our next timeline. When we start getting into four or three months out, I’ve got to start really looking and decide whether to try to find more feed at what cost or sell out,” Fell said. “I enjoy every sunrise and sunset, and for a lot of ranchers the sun has set on them, and they may never get back in. But one thing I do know is that sun is going to come up in the morning. It’s going to rise, and it could be a better day.”