The Impacts of Drought in Fayette County
Grace Friedrich Summer 2023
Fayette County is a scenic and historical place in Central Texas. It’s a
midpoint between Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. The landscape is one of
rolling hills, rivers, river bottom land, and rich farmland, shaped by the
contours of the Colorado River. When you think of Fayette County today, you
think of rural life. We raise cattle and corn primarily, and a lot of hay for
feed. An ocean of grass has cattle scattered through it and corn rustling in
the summer breeze. Water is vital to these three essential elements of life in
the county. The current drought, historic in its impact and outlook, is posing
grave issues to the landowners of the region. I grew up as part of a rural
family and around cattle and corn. The effects of drought have affected us many
times in the past and generally farmers and ranchers learn to work with it and
prepare for the worst, but the stressors certainly increase.
Farmers experiencing drought
face the challenges of providing water to their crops, livestock, and sometimes
even themselves. They are most often dependent on the
natural resources which
are dependent on rainfall. For crops rain is necessary. The brutal heat
and lack of water will cause crop failure. You can irrigate but that brings new
problems putting a strain on wells, which is what most rural landowners use to
source their water. Livestock farmers primarily rely on ponds and perhaps
streams and creeks. Rain is, of course, necessary for these natural
environments to hold water.
The current temperatures and lack of rain have caused most of these
water sources to be left empty or extremely low. Not only do low ponds mean no water, but they create a muddy mess and livestock often go into ponds to cool off in this heat. What we see a lot is cattle getting stuck in the mud and unable to get out, and if you aren’t checking your cattle frequently, they can die. When the natural resources are exhausted, farmers rely on water troughs but these are only good where you have a well. Most farmers have a pond in all their pastures because of a thing called rotational grazing. But when you get down to only having a water trough as your source of water you become limited on where your cattle can be. This can cause strain on your grasses. I have seen many pastures go from luscious green waves to dirt in the span of a summer.
Interview with Mark F. local farmer/rancher
Green pastures, tall corn, and large quantities of hay bales are a beautiful site during the early summer but with the temperature increase it usually tends to get the look of that summertime gold and in the case of a drought like seen this year, we often see dirt pastures, low yielding corn, and little to no hay bales. The drought affects the land and its growth tremendously. When there is no grass for cattle to eat or to bale into hay, farmers will have to depend on previous years resources or buy feed,
hay and
other supplements. And farmers that sell
hay and corn won’t have the normal yield and therefore not make the income they usually would.
When there is no grass or vegetation left the topsoil erodes and displaces. It gets kicked up and blown away, washed away when it does finally rain, and it cracks. These cracks happen more in black land and clay-based soils. This is because it is porous and expands and contracts. Fayette County has a lot of this. When we get these cracks, it can be dangerous as they can become large enough for livestock to step off in and break a leg which oftentimes leads to them needing to be euthanized. It also means that when it does rain, the water will run off into those cracks first.
Interview with Richard Schilling on the board of soil and water conservation.
All this dry weather usually leads to more need for help. Farmers can receive guidance from the county soil and water conservation organization, which helps them create plans for the drought and ways to stay prepared for
another. They helpguide farmers into
rotational grazing,
how to keep their grasses strong and plentiful, and how to potentially conserve water. There is also a burn ban in effect, but fires still break out
This risk is a threat for their livelihood.
Interview with Ben Gerik local fireman/landowner
The drought has affected the county in different ways and has caused stress on the land, farmers, and livestock. Conservation is significant right now and we are all
trying to
get through it
together. Rain has been making more of an appearance but we will need more at a slow and steady rate to recover from this.