Wildfires have devastated the Texas cattle industry and the effects may be long-lasting (1 Viewer)

Users who are viewing this thread

    LovesMusic7360

    Well-known member
    Joined
    Feb 2, 2024
    Messages
    192
    Reaction score
    259
    Location
    Way out West
    Offline
    When Shane Pennington, a 56-year-old cattle farmer near Canadian, Texas, first saw flames from an enormous wildfire approaching the ranch he manages, his first concern wasn’t his home. It was his animals. Pennington told CNN he returned to the ranch to find around 50 cattle dead, with nursing cows desperately searching for their lost calves.

    As the flames tore through the ranch, they caused excruciating injuries, burning off some animals’ tails and rendering others blind. “It just burned all the hair off them,” he said. “Their feet are coming off. Their hooves, they’re bloody.”

    Some of them are “cows that I raised right here,” he said. “It’s just hard to see them burn up.”
    Pennington is one of many cattle farmers whose livelihoods have been devastated by the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest wildfire in Texas history, which has burned more than a million acres of land across the panhandle.
    The state is home to about 4.1 million beef cattle, according to David P. Anderson, professor of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University. And more than 85% are in the panhandle, according to Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.
    Farmers and agricultural experts say the wildfire will continue to affect the cattle industry for years to come.


    This is so sad. The denial of climate change has cost ranchers in Texas to lose just about everything.

    I don't feel sympathy for the humans. They caused it. My sympathy lies with the cows, all the wild animals that died and all the plants that burned up and will continue to burn up until Texas gets their act together and brings this fire under control.

    The humans got what they demanded by denying climate change. And make no mistake, climate change made this fire much worse than it had to be.

    Add in the fact that greg abbott doesn't really give much of a damn about it. He's too busy making a spectacle at the border. He's left the ranchers to deal with this catastrophe mostly by themselves. It looks to me like the firefighters don't have much experience with a huge fire and can't bring it under control.

    I have roots there. My mom's family is from the panhandle of Texas. I was there in 2021. It's all cattle ranching there. Now, all that cattle ranching is gone.

    I personally don't eat beef, the taste and smell of it makes me vomit. So this isn't really going to affect me much but most Americans do eat beef. Get ready for sky high beef prices and it doesn't look like they will come down soon.

    I'm sure the republicans will blame it all on Biden. When the blame lies with the republicans and the governor of Texas.
     

    Create an account or login to comment

    You must be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create account

    Create an account on our community. It's easy!

    Log in

    Already have an account? Log in here.

    General News Feed

    Fact Checkers News Feed

    Back
    Top Bottom