County judge seeks state drought aid

Don’t let Wednesday’s rain fool you: it’s not enough to make hay

By Libby Cluett
lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com

PALO PINTO COUNTY – Prior to Wednesday’s soaking, drought conditions reached a level that led County Judge Mike Smiddy to ask Gov. Rick Perry for “assistance in this emergency.”

In a letter he sent to Austin Tuesday, Smiddy wrote, “Palo Pinto County is suffering from drought conditions due to a lack of rainfall since May 1.

“Extreme temperatures and winds have caused a loss of hay crops and grazing in the county. Producers have reported that hay yields are one -half of normal for the first cutting,” Smiddy added.

“We didn’t even get the first cutting,” said stock farmer and cattle raiser Lois Bandy.

“We just haven’t had rain,” said Bandy, who lives north of Peadenville, which has been especially dry this year.

When the April hailstorm pummeled Mineral Wells, Bandy said they did not get a drop of rain or hail, but “that was a blessing.” Since then, she said, “Mineral Wells and Perrin have had showers,” while they stayed bone dry.

“It takes about an inch to do any good – I don’t think an inch would do well now. We really need a good, heavy rain of 3-4 inches,” she added.

Perrin-Whitt Consolidated ISD Superintendent and area cattle raiser Darren Francis agreed that rainfall in the area has been hit or miss.

“It’s been real spotty,” he said, adding that Wednesday’s rain was “pretty superficial” and the ground was already dry.

While it’s doubtful Gov. Perry can change the weather conditions, he can request that the federal government designate Palo Pinto County a disaster county, which could open the door for federal assistance through the new 2008 Farm Bill.

“Since we’ve been raising cattle, this is the worst year we’ve ever had,” Bandy said. She and her husband have raised cattle since they moved to the area in the ’50s.

“If it doesn’t change, a lot of people are going to have to sell their cattle unless they have stored hay,” said Bandy.

“There will be no additional cuttings unless there is substantial rainfall. Livestock are beginning to feed above normal,” Smiddy stated in his letter.

“I can’t ever remember feeding [cattle] in the summer, she added. “My husband planted Sudan and it’s too dry for it to come up. We use that in the summer to feed our cattle. We’ve grazed the coastal fields what we generally make our hay off of for the winter.”

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Other parts of Palo Pinto County and the region have not been quite so dry. Some operators, like Joe Brooks, manager of the Rhoades Ranch, say, “it can always be worse.”

Brooks, who has worked on the ranch due west of Mineral Wells for 19 years, said many variables make 2008 a tough year on cattle raisers – “Dry, dormant tough grass; receding water levels; high feed costs; high delivery charges; and ranch fuel costs.”

“Two years ago we were almost out of surface water,” he noted. “We’re not in great shape, but it could always be worse,” he said.

Brooks seems to take the dry summer in stride, saying, “It’s this time of year in Texas. Last year we had a hard time putting up hay because of the rain. You play the hand you’re dealt.”

If more rains don’t come, the scarcity of hay adding to high production costs could cause concern for many cattle operators.

“Optimistic pessimists” or “pessimistic optimists” are ways Dr. Ron Gill, Professor and Extension Livestock Specialist, Texas Agrilife Extension Service, describes cattle raisers.

Gill, who works out of the Texas A&M; Extension office in Stephenville also runs a commercial cow-calf operation in Wise and Parker counties. He also said the current drought conditions are not close to those of 2005 and 2006.

“There are some areas that have been really dry. Most everybody had good moisture early in the year and were able to grow grass,” he said, explaining that 85 percent of grass grows from May to the first of July.

He added that the situation with hay is not what many expected. “Everybody thought we’d be in good shape because we made so much last year, but we’ve made so little this year,” he said.

Gill said he has experienced a drop in hay from his first cuttings. One field yielded 72 bales last year and only 24 this year. Another yielded 130 bales last year and only 65 this year.

He said he has heard mixed positions on the market because of the scarcity of hay this year. “Probably some of them can go through without buying excess hay or selling cattle,” said Gill.

“Our first cutting [of hay] was 50 percent of what we made last year,” Brooks reported. “We used less fertilizers because of costs and not knowing the [future] rain patterns.

“The price of cattle has not kept up with rising costs – it never does. Beef prices are not offsetting the rising costs of fertilizer and fuel,” he added.

Brooks said they supplement their cows with cubed cattle feed. “If you don’t have grass, it doesn’t dollar out to feed cattle out of a feeder. Most people I talk to are not sure about a second cutting – I’m optimistic, but wouldn’t bet on it. I’m sitting the fence right now.”

“Two years ago, before the drought broke, there was more culling of cattle. Flooding the market brings the price down,” noted Brooks, who maintains he sees more optimism among cattle raisers this year. “You have to be optimistic to be in this business.”

“If someone’s been looking to retire or go out [of business], they may sell out,” Gill said. “Prices are still pretty good. I think everybody will wait until fall. By early September we will know if there’s enough moisture to have another [hay] cutting.”

“This is the most optimistic/pessimistic bunch I know,” he said. Yet he added that he holds out hope that the fall months will yield “pretty good cuttings [of hay]”

While Gill cited that there are always provisions for disaster relief, the federal government is trying to move toward an insurance program.

Questions remain, though, like how much will the government want to pay farmers with so many disasters this year – flooding in the Mid-west, droughts in Colorado and North Dakota and fires in California and other places around the nation.

As for the local drought conditions, “You’re never really out of it – it’s just some years are better. We could be in worse shape,” Brooks echoed.

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