© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Cattle that had been killed by the Smokehouse Creek wildfire lay in a burned subject, exterior of Canadian, Texas, U.S., February 28, 2024. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo
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By Tom Polansek
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Wildfires raging within the Texas Panhandle have destroyed grain in storage bins and sure killed tens of 1000’s of livestock, state Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller mentioned in an interview on Thursday.
A blaze, dubbed the Smokehouse Creek hearth, is the biggest in Texas historical past and burning grazing lands lined with years of grass which might be serving to to gas the fireplace, Miller mentioned.
“It’s almost like gasoline when it goes up,” he mentioned. “We have now lost over a million acres.”
The wildfire, raging northeast of Amarillo since Monday, had blackened 850,000 acres (344,000 hectares) of grasslands and timber as of Wednesday, the Texas A&M Forest Service reported.
The state doesn’t know precisely what number of cattle have died, however “the number is going to be very large,” Miller mentioned.
“We’ve lost probably tens of thousands of head of livestock, cattle mainly,” he mentioned.
Nationwide, the cattle herd declined to its lowest stage in additional than seven a long time as of Jan. 1, after drought diminished the quantity of pastureland out there for grazing.
Texas is the nation’s largest cattle producer, and Miller mentioned greater than 85% of the state’s herd is within the Panhandle. Most are in feedlots and dairies which might be unscathed, although, he mentioned.
Losses will likely be devastating to particular person producers however not be massive sufficient to “drastically change the overall production numbers of cattle in the United States,” Miller mentioned.
Texas had 12 million cattle firstly of the yr, in keeping with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Feed provides are scarce for surviving cattle as a result of the fireplace destroyed grazing lands and bins holding crops like wheat and corn, he mentioned.
“It looks like a moonscape up there,” Miller mentioned. “There’s absolutely zero vegetation. The cattle that do survive, they have absolutely nothing to eat.”
The state is amassing donations to assist farmers bury useless animals, erect barns and purchase new fencing supplies, Miller mentioned.
Livestock provide stations have additionally been set as much as accumulate donations of fencing provides and hay, mentioned Ben Weinheimer, president of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.
“Cattle producers are doing everything in their power to protect their livestock while also protecting their families,” he mentioned.