First, flames stormed the landscapes of the Texas Panhandle, burning the grassy plains and scrub of the region’s cattle ranches.
On Friday, ranchers faced a daunting task: navigating miles of scorched earth to dispose of the burned corpses of their livestock. Others, burned and injured too badly in this week’s historic fires to survive, will be euthanized.
“We’re picking up dead today,” X-Cross-X Ranch operator Chance Bowers said as ranch workers used a bulldozer to move dozens of blackened carcasses into a row on the side of a dirt road. From there, a giant claw hook placed them in the back of the open trailer.
These cattle were found near a fence line that cut through a vast expanse of charred bushes and ash left in every direction after the flames spread. They will be sent to a rendering facility rather than buried.
Ranchers and state officials do not yet know the total number of cattle killed in the fires that burned 5,050 square kilometers, briefly shut down a nuclear power plant, charred hundreds of homes and other structures and left two people dead. For some farms, the impact could be severe, although the effect on consumer prices of beef is likely to be minimal.
“These cows that you see dead are worth between $2,500 and $3,000 each,” Bowers said. “Financially, it’s a huge, huge burden on us.”
Texas is the nation’s leading livestock producer. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said the number of dead “grazing” cattle is likely in the thousands. While the Panhandle contains more than 85 percent of the state’s herd, most are on ranches and dairies that were not damaged.
The causes of the fires remain under investigation, although they were fueled by strong winds, dry grass and unusually hot weather.
Bowers said the X-Cross-X ranch expects to lose at least 250 of the 1,000 head of cattle it had across three area ranches due to burns or smoke inhalation.
“We were right in the middle of calving season,” Bowers said. “In a few weeks we will really know what we lost. … In this pasture alone there are 70 deaths.”
The number of cattle in the region varies as ranchers rent pastures for their herds. Heavy rains in recent months have meant lots of grass, prompting ranchers to send herds to the area, said Ron Gill, a professor and livestock specialist at Texas A&M University.
Losing all that grass to flames and burning barns and fences will also hurt ranchers and surviving livestock, said Jay Foster, special ranger and supervisor of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in the Panhandle. Replacing a mile of fence can cost $10,000, he said.
“It’s kind of a desert here right now,” Foster said. “It’s kind of like if your kids are sitting at the table and want to eat, the livestock needs to eat and the grass is no longer there.”
Bill Martin runs the Lonestar Stockyards in Wildorado, where ranchers bring their cattle to auction each week. He said the number of cows in the United States was already at a 75-year low due to years of drought.
“There is a big shortage of livestock, so this is going to have a huge impact,” Martin said.
Ranchers spend years developing the genetics of their cattle, giving them vaccines and nutrients to keep them from getting sick and supplementing their feed during the winter months to keep them well-nourished, he said.
“Then to see something like this… some of them lost all their livestock,” Martin said. “Most of them lost some of their livestock.” he said.
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Vertuno reporter from Austin, Texas. Ken Miller contributed from Oklahoma City.