Drought Losses Set Staggering Record of $5.2 Billion

As we feared, the worst single-year drought in Texas history has devastated our agriculture community to the staggering tune of $5.2 billion in losses, according to the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

These losses exceed the previous record of $4.1 billion incurred during the drought of 2006 and can be attributed to the punishing combination of drought and record-setting temperatures that have caused hay shortages, dwindling herds and lost or severely damaged crops. The end result has been a dry spell that recently surpassed the one of 1918, making our current crisis the second-worst drought in the history of the Lone Star State.

These have been extraordinarily tough times for our farmers and ranchers, but you know what happens when the going gets tough — survivors always outlast adversity. While we are seeing the weathering on the faces and in the hearts of Texas farmers and ranchers, I’m confident the folks who provide us with safest, most affordable and most abundant food supply in the world will refuse to wilt beneath the brutal heat.

I continue to pray for rain in order to provide relief for our farmers and ranchers. May they continue to fight the good fight on behalf of all Texans who rely on their hard work every day.

Cotton Losses Due to Drought Will Literally Hit Your Pockets

We are receiving some much needed rain this week, but the dramatic impact of this drought is beginning to materialize and the outlook is grim.

According to Plains Cotton Growers, Inc. this may be the first year there is a 100-percent abandonment of the 2 million-acre dryland cotton crop in their service area around Lubbock. That area, by the way, accounts for about 80 percent of the state’s cotton production.

When you consider Texas produced 43 percent of the nation’s cotton crop last year, or 7.9 million bales of the U.S. total of 18.1 million bales, the potential loss spells big trouble.

A huge reduction in cotton is not only bad news for the $1.4 billion cotton industry and its 38,100 employees, but also for parents buying blue jeans and socks for their kids. Less cotton will likely mean higher prices for the cotton-based products you and I buy off the shelves or the rack.

Agriculture is a tremendously fulfilling enterprise. If you have ever grown even a single plant in your home, you understand the amazing and delicate process of nurturing a single seed. Magnify that scenario by the massive amounts of food we eat, clothes we wear and all the other agricultural products that enrich our daily lives, and you get an idea of the devastating impact of entire crop loss.

Let’s keep our cotton farmers, and the communities that depend on them, in our prayers during these severe drought conditions and extremely challenging times.