The Smokehouse Creek Fire is not only the biggest wildfire in Texas state history, it is now the costliest. Economists with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service project the Panhandle fires caused $123 million in preliminary agricultural losses.
The initial loss estimates span from February through the middle of March. That includes the more than a million acres burned and lost grazing values and fence repair costs.
Ranch infrastructure losses of $68 million are estimated. That includes fences, barns, corrals, windmills, and stocks of hay and feed. Losses in long-term grazing and short-term emergency feeding total $26 million. Ranchers also lost $27 million worth of cattle due to the wildfires, which includes cows and further losses from the season’s calf crop.
