Texas agriculture losses could set new record amid drought

[Forkboy]

Randy McGee spent $28,000 in one month pumping water onto about 500 acres in West Texas before he decided to give up irrigating 75 acres of corn and focus on other crops that stood a better chance in the drought.

He thought rain might come and save those 75 acres, but it didn't and days of triple-digit heat sucked the remaining moisture from the soil. McGee walked recently through rows of sunbaked and stunted stalks, one of thousands of farmers counting his losses amid record heat and drought this year.

The drought has spread over much of the southern U.S., leaving Oklahoma the driest it has been since the 1930s and setting records from Louisiana to New Mexico. But the situation is especially severe in Texas, which trails only California in agricultural productivity.

McGee is still watering another variety of corn, cotton and sorghum but the loss of nearly one-sixth of his acres after spending so much on irrigation weighs on him.

http://www.salon.com/wires/us/2011/07/27/D9ONRMMO0_us_food_and_farm_texas_drought/index.html

[theophilus]

1. Oh well, none of this will impact m................hey, wait a minute. n/t

[blogslut]

3. this

[Manifestor_of_Light]

2. Hey Rick, I thought praying for rain was the answer???

:shrug:

Their faith in one-sided conversation amuses and disappoints me.

:rofl:

[Loki]

4. The "stupid" is real strong out in west Texas

they will keep voting Republican until their farms all dry up and they are eating dirt for dinner. I feel sorry for people like Mr. McGee, but they have no one to blame but their prejudices and fears and the fact that they vote for a Republican who could give a rats ass about them and their problems just so long as they vote and keep their sorry asses in office. Guess the next thing Mr. McGee and other Texas farmers will be wanting is one of those government hand-outs, heh.....good luck. Those people you voted for Mr. McGee, they're going to make sure there is nothing left for you. Sucker.