Over SEVEN THOUSAND cows have been killed in the Texas wildfires that have consumed the panhandle and were sparked by downed power lines

The devastation caused by the Texas wildfires has killed more than 7,000 cows, not including those that were euthanized due to their serious injuries.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said CBS News that the Lone Star State has not recovered the total amount of livestock lost due to the Panhandle fires, but that number is expected to increase.

“Their hooves are burned off, their feet are burned further – they can’t nurse their babies. Ultimately, we’re going to have to euthanize a lot of cattle just because they’re not going to make it even if they survive,” Miller said.

As of Thursday morning, more than a million acres of land have been destroyed by the infernos and burn bans are in effect in 66 counties across the state, according to Texas A&M Forest Service.

More than 5,400 people in Texas were without power for a day last week because lines were down due to fire damage. Xcel Energy has since taken blame for the downed lines, saying its equipment appeared to have caused the Smokehouse Creek fire.

The agency reported three active fires were still burning: the Grape Vine Creek Fire in Gray County, which is 96 percent contained, the Smokehouse Creek Fire in Hutchinson County, which is 74 percent contained, and the Windy Deuce Fire in Moore County, which is 89 percent contained. percent contained.

The Smokehouse Fire, which consumed an estimated 1,059,570 acres, is the largest wildfire in state history. Many of the state’s ranches are more than 100 years old.

‘It’s very stressful. Let’s say you are the sixth, seventh, eighth generation and you are responsible for the family legacy. At some point, you no longer own the land, the land owns you,” he said.

“All the family memorabilia is gone. All their heritage, all their memories are on the table – many of them only have the clothes on their backs.’

Miller said that with more than 11 million cattle in Texas, he estimates the eventual number of cattle lost could reach 10,000.

He said he doesn’t believe the loss will have an “overall market-wide price impact” across the country, but that it is still “devastating.”

“And those cows are currently worth between $2,500 and $3,000, and there’s no insurance on them. That’s just total eradication,” he said.

According to Wise voterBy 2023, Texas was the nation’s largest meat producer.

Texas, dubbed last year the “undisputed champion of beef production,” has more than 4 million cows.

Miller said a couple who were “just getting started” in the ranching business lost their entire herd of 200 cows, and another farmer lost 700 cows.

Chance Bowers, the operator of the X-Cross-X Ranch, told the Associated Press that of his three ranches, numbering 1,000, he believes he has lost 250 to the wildfires.

Bowers said, “I’ve been building this cow herd for the last 15 years,” he said. “And you can lose him overnight. We’re very blessed, very fortunate that we’re only going to lose 200, you know?’

He said besides the tragic loss of cows, farmers have also lost their cotton production due to the fire disaster.

Rick Yantis, a Lamb County farmer, told Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network that “the ground is toast” and that the wind and heat felt “more intense” than last year’s fires.

“The dry cotton is blistered and burned. A large part of the crop turns brown and dies. “I’ve never seen it get to this point,” he added.

About 200 kilometers of power lines were burned in the fires, “completely wiping out” seed and seven grain traders.

Without the seed and grain, there was no food for the surviving cows, as well as electricity and water, Miller said.

He said an estimated 3,000 to 6,000 miles of fencing were destroyed in the fires and just one mile costs about $10,000.

Miller said he is heartbroken not only about the animals lost in the fires, but also about the mental state of the farmers who have virtually nothing.

“The highest suicide rates in the country are our veterans and our farmers,” Miller said, adding that his office provides mental health services to people in the industry called the AgriStress Helpline.

The wildfires sweeping across the Texas Panhandle have led to evacuations, power outages, the temporary closure of a nuclear weapons facility, numerous animal deaths and the deaths of two people.

Last week, Republican Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties in his state experiencing the impact of the out-of-control flames.

“Texans are urged to limit activities that could cause sparks and take precautions to keep their loved ones safe,” Abbott said.

The community has since relied on aid in the form of donations such as farming equipment, food and clothing, and one woman said she even provides foggers for animals that have inhaled the toxic smoke from the wildfires.

The Pantex plant, the nation’s main facility that assembles and disassembles the U.S. nuclear arsenal, evacuated most of its workforce Tuesday evening.

The next morning, however, Pantex announced that the facility was “open for normal day shift operations” and that all personnel were required to report to their assigned schedule.

Another rancher, Shane Pennington, 56, told CNN he lost dozens and dozens of cattle in the Smokehouse Creek Fire.

He said his staff has found about 50 dead cattle, while some suckler cows are desperately searching for their lost calves.

“We’re not finding many calves,” he said. “So I know they burned down.”

The flames that engulfed the ranch a few days ago decimated Pennington’s herd, causing horrific injuries to some of the cows that were not killed.

Some of the animals’ tails were burned, others were blinded by the flames.

‘It is extremely difficult to see them suffer. Some of them I have raised since they were babies,” he said. “It’s just hard.”