PORTER, Texas — Hurricanes cause problems for everyone, but farmers face even more problems.
Beryl was no exception: the past week has seen the storm damage crops, soaking rabbits and chickens, terrifying goats, putting horses at risk of colic and leaving cows without fences to keep them in. And the ongoing power outages have been particularly devastating for animal carers who desperately need water, feed and supplies.
But with downed trees, power outages, gas shortages and many local businesses temporarily out of business, Houston-area farmers had to find ways to cope. They were relying on each other, neighbors and the community to recover.
“We all take care of each other,” said Tracy Hord, 57, who with her husband, Greg, owns a riding stable on the outskirts of Houston where they board and train horses. “The general public doesn’t know what it takes … to run this. You’ve got to keep it moving because the horses can’t live without it and your cattle can’t live without it.”
This week they have already driven an hour to and from the city in an attempt to obtain enough bedding: the wood chips that line the horse stables.
Extreme weather such as droughts, floods and storms hit farmers hard, especially those with small outfitsand scientists expect many of these dire conditions to worsen as a result of climate change.
In areas of Texas closer to the coast, there are more individual producers with relatively smaller farms, said Monty Dozier, program director for the Texas A&The Disaster Assessment and Recovery Unit of M Agricultural Extension, which surveys farmers after devastating weather events.
Dozier estimates that there are between 14,000 and 20,000 head of cattle living in the area between Houston and Beaumont alone.
That a lot of livestock usually can’t be evacuated before a storm. Sometimes people move horses or other smaller animals, but otherwise farmers have to prepare by moving their herds to higher ground and making sure they have a way to shelter.
Catherine Ward, owner of One Acre Farm, which provides youth education and autism therapy about 35 miles (56 kilometers) from Houston in Porter, Texas, watched her 88 animals react as wind gusts bent, snapped and toppled trees.
“The goats were able to get into the shelter,” Ward said. “Every time I went to the back door to check, they all looked like, ‘Mommy, please come help. We don’t know what’s going on.’”
After Beryl died, Ward inspected the damage and found that a tree had fallen on the roof of the chicken and rabbit coop, fences were broken, and metal sheeting had been twisted and thrown to the ground. The farm remained without power on Friday, and the constant hum of a portable generator filled the air.
The Texas Legislature granted funding to Texas A&M in 2019&M University will establish a system to help farmers respond to disasters, following recommendations the university made after Hurricane Harvey hit the state in 2017, Dozier said.
Since then, the program’s 26 agents, occasionally joined by additional agents from the university’s agricultural extension department, have helped members of the agricultural community respond to wildfires, tornadoes, floods and more across the state. Producers can complete a damage survey online and request additional resources, advice or a personal visit if they need it.
Texas One&M’s response team provides pet supplies to pick-up points after storms, but also tries to get out quickly once local operators reopen. That’s someone’s livelihood, too, Dozier said.
One of those operators, Chuck Ridder, owns Knox Drive Farm & He has been feeding for 20 years and says that whenever something like this happens, he will always open it, even without electricity.
“We know that animals need to eat,” he said.
Before Beryl struck, Knight moved hundreds of bags to storage areas several feet above ground in case the warehouse flooded. Fortunately, he said, water never got into his warehouse. But Beryl’s high winds damaged one of the warehouse’s metal doors. He had to replace the door as the storm continued to rage through Porter to keep the rain and wind from damaging his feed stock in the warehouse.
Bad weather is no stranger to many Texas farmers.
“One of my producers said to me, ‘If you’re going to farm in Texas, you have to learn how to farm in a drought that’s punctuated by flooding,’” Dozier said. “That’s the mindset you have to have.”
It is a challenging reality that means people must trust each other in difficult times, and many do.
Customers, neighbors and friends all come into Ridder knowing that they will likely get what they need, even if the power goes out. One of Ridder’s good friends, Tommy Johnson, is a loyal customer who keeps his 14 South African Boer goats in a pen at Ridder’s warehouse.
According to Ridder, Johnson knows where the key is to unlock the back door of his company.
“If they need anything, they can always leave a note,” Ridder said.
Knight said that when he needed a chainsaw to cut down some trees that had blown down around his shop and home, Johnson got one for him.
“We lean on each other and try to help each other out as best we can,” Johnson said.
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Walling reported from Chicago. Follow her on X: @MelinaWalling.
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