According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the area of Austin down to the border is experiencing exceptional drought conditions. San Antonio is in the middle of that drought zone. In at least nine counties, it’s the worst drought on record. And, as Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies reports, the drought is having a devastating effect on area ranchers.
August 24, 2009 ·Linda Perez climbs aboard her 1964 John Deer tractor and prepares to drive toward the pasture where her cattle are waiting to be fed.
The classic tractor still sports the trademark green and yellow colors of a John Deer, and, with a rumble, it starts up.
The 64-year-old rancher uses the tractor to pickup a massive hay bale and drops it off in the field. Then, deftly using the tractor, she breaks up the golden bale and leaves behind several piles of hay.
Perez is worried that other ranchers might mock her for taking the time to bust up the hay bale but she’s more concerned about the $70 it cost for each big bale.
“What you want to do is reduce any possibility of waste because it is so expensive, and it’s so limited,” said Perez.
The gate is then opened and the cattle hurry over to their morning meal. Perez watches the cattle parade and calls out their names.
“That’s Dali — as in Salvador Dali. This is Swoozie. Her mother is Swoosh. Her mother has what looks like a Nike swoosh on her head,” she said.
Perez owns and runs the L&M Ranch just outside of Floresville. She knows each of the cows by name.
“I think there’s a saying that a cow with a name is a well cared for cow,” Perez said.
The cows don’t seem to mind that there’s little or no grass growing for them to graze on – the area is being devastated by this historic drought.
Like most area ranchers, she tried to grow her own supply of hay last spring, but with the absence of rain the field she planted didn’t produce.
“Because of the drought I didn’t have enough grass to be able to cut hay. Usually you hope to get at least two round bails per acre. I wasn’t even going to get one,” Perez said.
Dave Scott is the president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. He says Perez isn’t alone.
“Some people in South Texas say it’s the worst since 1918. So that would be worse than the 1950’s. I’m sure in my time it’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Scott.
It’s estimated that the losses to Texas agriculture since November of 2008 amount to $3.6 billion and counting.
Almost a $1 billion of those losses were in livestock with the remainder in crops. These losses are hitting area ranchers during the recession when credit is tight.
Scott says the drought is one more hardship on an already sluggish economy.
“It will hurt our total agriculture economics because, you know, the cattle is about half of the income of Texas agriculture.”
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Perez has found a niche market to keep her cattle operation running.
Every Saturday you can find her set up at the farmers market selling her all natural grass fed beef.
“The Pearl’s farmers market customers have been very appreciative, and they come back for more and more,” Perez said.
Customers line up to buy the steaks and other cuts. They are willing to pay the extra dollar for the meat because they believe it’s healthier for them and its more environmentally friendly than beef from the grocery store freezer.
“The carbon footprint is about 80 miles for an animal. It’s born and spends all its time on the ranch until the day it becomes beef,” said Perez.
But many of the repeat customers, like Beverly Wymer, say they can taste the difference.
“It just tastes so much better than anything you can get at the grocery store – pales in comparison,” Wymer said.
But what about other local ranchers who are having a tough time dealing with the drought?
Scott says they are being forced selling off their herd head by head, while looking to the sky for signs of rain.
“They start with selling the least productive, the older cows and just work up the line until you finally get to your better cows. And when you don’t have any other choice you sell those too,” said Scott.
He says South Texas ranchers have been through droughts before. It’s a boom bust cycle and they’ll bounce back.
