SKELLYTOWN, Texas — First, the flames swept across the vistas of the Texas Panhandle, burning through the grasslands and brush of the region’s cattle ranches.
On Friday, ranchers faced a grim task: sifting through miles of scorched earth to remove the burned bodies of livestock. Others too badly burned and injured in this week’s historic wildfires to survive will be euthanized.
“We’re picking up dead today,” said Chance Bowers, operator of X-Cross-X Ranch, as ranch hands used a bulldozer to move dozens of blackened carcasses into a line on the side of a dirt road. From there a giant claw hook places them in the back of an open trailer.
These cattle were found near a fence running through a vast expanse of charred brush and ash left in all directions after the flames had swept through. They are sent to a rendering plant instead of buried.
Ranchers and state officials don’t yet know how many livestock have died in wildfires that have burned 5,050 square miles, briefly shut down a nuclear power plant, charred hundreds of homes and other structures and killed two people. For some farms the impact could be severe, although the effect on beef prices for consumers is likely to be minimal.
“These cows you see dead are worth between $2,500 and $3,000 each,” Bowers said. “Financially it is a huge burden for us.”
Texas is the largest cattle producer in the country. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has said the number of dead cattle is likely in the thousands. Although the Panhandle has more than 85% of the state’s herd, most are in feedlots and dairy farms that have not been damaged.
The cause of the fires remains under investigation, although strong winds, dry grass and unseasonably warm weather fueled the blazes.
Bowers said the X-Cross-X ranch expects to lose at least 250 of the 1,000 cattle it had on three ranches, either from burns or smoke inhalation.
“We were in the middle of calving season,” Bowers said. “In a few weeks we will really know what we have lost. Seventy people have died in this meadow alone.”
The number of cattle in the region fluctuates as ranchers rent pasture for their herds. Excessive rainfall in recent months has meant plenty of grass, prompting ranchers to send herds into the area, said Ron Gill, a professor and livestock specialist at a Texas A.&M University.
The loss of all that grass to the flames and burning of barns and fences will also hurt ranchers and surviving livestock, said Jay Foster, special ranger and supervisor of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in the Panhandle. A mile of fencing can cost $10,000 to replace, he said.
“It looks a bit like a desert here now,” Foster said. “It’s like when your kids are sitting at the dinner table and they want to eat, the cattle need to eat and the grass is gone.”
Bill Martin runs the Lonestar Stockyards in Wildorado, where farmers bring their cattle to auction every week. He said cow numbers in the US are already at their lowest level in 75 years due to years of drought.
“There is a major shortage of livestock, so this will have a huge impact on that,” Martin said.
Ranchers spend years developing the genetics of their livestock, providing them with vaccines and nutrients to keep them from getting sick and supplementing their feed during the winter months to keep them well nourished, he said.
“To see something like this… some of them lost all their livestock,” Martin said. “Most of them lost some of their livestock.” said.
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Vertuno reporter from Austin, Texas. Ken Miller contributed from Oklahoma City.