Texas has been through it all recently from the pandemic to drought to a hurricane to flooding and freeze. It is hitting the ag sector pretty hard.
While the exact numbers are not out yet, the state’s dairy and produce sectors suffered heavy losses, especially the livestock industry.
According to Texas Farm Bureau’s Carey Martin, “We’ve heard tons of stories of lots of folks being right in the middle of spring calving. We’re the largest sheep and goat state in the country... those baby goats and baby lambs hitting the ground, there were some losses there, and one thing you don’t necessarily think about is that we’re a big wildlife state. We have a lot of exotic wildlife. I’ve heard stories of these exotic wildlife who come from very warm, humid climates in African and other countries, and we have a lot of farms in the state that raise that livestock. They have very little fat on their body; they’re not acclimated to the cold temperatures and there were big wildlife losses as well.”
He says that millions of gallons of milk had to be poured down the drain because of facilities not having electricity.