BROOKS COUNTY, TEXAS (RFD NEWS) — Severe drought conditions in South Texas are forcing some ranchers to make difficult decisions, including selling off cattle herds as feed and water supplies become increasingly scarce.
In Brooks County, rancher Mike Vickers says the conditions are the worst he has seen in more than five decades: “Well, I can tell you this, it’s really, really bad. This is the worst I’ve ever seen it, and I’ve been here a long time, 53 years.”
The region’s Keetch-Byram Drought Index currently sits around 721 to 724, which falls into the extreme range. Readings above 600 indicate severe dryness and elevated wildfire risk, meaning soils and vegetation are critically dry.
Drought-stressed grass across the region has left livestock with little to graze on, forcing many ranchers to sell off animals — sometimes entire herds of up to 1,000 head.
“There’s not enough hay to buy. There’s no grass. And the cattle are starving, the deer are starving, the Nilgai are starving. Everything — all the wildlife is being impacted,” Vickers said.
Ranchers Struggling to Find Hay
Vickers says even purchased feed is becoming harder to find as supplies dwindle across the region.
“I bought a load of hay here just last week, and it was the last load that I’ve been able to buy from this person — a load of 34 round bales — and he’s out of hay. My previous source is out of hay. Now there’s a source up close to San Antonio around Hondo, but I’m told his source for hay is getting low. So I’m about to run out of feed, and so is everybody else.”
Without proper nutrition, health problems in cattle are becoming more common.
“We’re praying for rain. We desperately need a rain right now. We’re seeing cattle go down with calcium deficiencies, phosphorus deficiencies, internal parasite problems — no energy in the hay that they’re buying. It’s a vicious cycle. Prolapse rectums and cervixes in breeding cattle. All of these things have accelerated due to the lack of proper nutrition.”
Water Shortages Add to the Pressure
Compounding the drought, ranchers in South Texas are also facing water challenges tied to the 1944 U.S.-Mexico Water Treaty, which requires Mexico to deliver water to the United States from the Rio Grande’s tributaries. Many ranchers say those deliveries have fallen short in recent years.
“People are getting a water allotment, but it’s not enough,” Vickers explained. “The hay growers down there probably get enough water to have one stand of hay — and some of them don’t even have that much. The water issue is still a problem for a lot of ranchers and farmers down there on the river.”
With conditions worsening, some landowners are shifting away from cattle altogether and focusing more on wildlife and hunting leases.
“Leaning more towards wildlife and concentrating on having a good hunter group hunt their property and lease their property for hunting,” Vickers said. “I’ve got some ranches as big as 30 or 40 thousand acres, and they’ve got their cattle herd back to maybe just a handful of longhorns around the headquarters — and they’ve gone strictly to hunting.”
Vickers says the shift away from cattle production has been gradually happening in parts of South Texas for years, but the current drought may accelerate that trend.
Frank McCaffrey reporting for RFD NEWS.
