"I've spent the last 15 years building this cow herd up," he said. He believes they'll end up losing upwards of 250 of them. "For most of these people, that cattle that survived, they're probably going to have to either find some other grazing somewhere in the state or another state, or probably sell out and wait 'til they get their ranch put back together before they can restock," he said.Ĭhance Bowers, operator of the X-Cross-X Ranch, told the Associated Press that across three leased ranches, his team has a little over 1,000 cows. Miller said he believes it will take at least two years for grasses to return to where they were, and that, on top of everything else, means many ranchers will likely have to completely change their future plans, with some even getting rid of their surviving cattle. One mile of fencing, he said, is about $10,000.Įven the burned grass poses a problem, as the cattle industry heavily relies on healthy pastures. "That means no electricity, no water for the livestock," he said, adding that his unofficial estimate is that 3,0000 to 4,000 miles of fencing has also been destroyed. Roughly 120 miles of powerlines have been burned down in the fires, and seven grain and seed dealers were "completely wiped out." Of the primary five fires that have burned over the past two weeks, four are in the Canadian River Basin, Miller said, a region that he says is mostly canyons and grazing land. ![]() Miller said that the cattle loss, on top of this, has left many financially stressed.Ĭattle that have survived the blazes relatively unscathed are still suffering, as are their owners, as the fires took out essential resources. "A lot of the crop is turning brown and dying. "The dryland cotton is blistered and burned," he said.
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