Texas agriculture officials already predicting record losses

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Associated Press

LUBBOCK — In more than four decades of farming, South Plains cotton producer Rickey Bearden says he's never seen an early growing season like this one.

In the past month, the world's largest contiguous cotton patch has endured blast furnace-like conditions as unseasonably high temperatures and strong winds have sucked moisture from soil and whipped plants with blowing sand.

<snip>

Across Texas, the nation's leading producer of cotton and cattle, heat and drought conditions combined with skyrocketing input costs could lead to record losses in agriculture this year.

The tally for all crops and livestock, which won't be figured until later in the growing season, could top the largest single-year loss of $4.1 billion, which was set in 2006.



Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5841537.html

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Yet another reason beef will soon become even more expensive.

Funny thing is last year we broke out of our drought only to flood leading to massive property loss. This year we're back in a drought and facing massive losses of a slightly different nature.

[Purveyor]

1. Listening to the noon farm report a couple of days ago and they

were discussing hope farmers are sending their livestock to slaughter as they can't afford to feed them.

In the short term they predicted that meat/milk prices to remain stable but once the herd is diminished, lookout for huge price increases in meat/milk prices.

Time to buy on the sales and pack the chest-freezers to capacity.

[SpiralHawk]

2. Plant plant plant plant plant plant plant plant

Or at least turn the soil in your yard and sow a cover crop like red clover to get the soil ready for next year.

2009 is going to make 2008 look like the good old days.

[defendandprotect]

4. Maybe it's time to end animal-eating . . . ???

[kestrel91316]

5. It's definitely PAST time to end factory farming and grain-feeding

of cattle. If somebody wants to raise AND FINISH them on grass, fine with me. But it's less profitable, so don't look for it on a large scale anytime soon.

[TooBigaTent]

3. If meat, like oil, becomes so expensive that people rethink its use, we might just

make some progress on environmental/energy issues.

The waste that results from producing cattle and other animal foods, in both toxic by-products and extremely-high energy use, are an enormous drain on the system and our planet.

But Amerika likes its steaks and burgers so the waste will continue.