Post by Shadow on Jan 16, 2006 18:40:13 GMT -5
Breitbart
By KELLY KURT
Associated Press Writer
CANADIAN, Okla.
Bill Lawson's thirsty pastures crunch underfoot, just like the dried mud in the dead and dying farm ponds that stopped sustaining his cattle weeks ago. His herd follows his pickup truck, lowing for feed because the wheat they usually graze on failed to come up. Fields that should be 6-inch-high seas of shamrock green sit yellowed and dusty, feeding only the black crows that swoop down to steal the unsprouted seed.
The Oklahoma rancher moves his herd from shrinking puddle to shrinking pond, fearing grass fires, hoping for rain and knowing that 50 years of farming will end if it doesn't come in significant amounts.
"Weeks go by and you get nothing. And then months go by, and you get nothing," the 72-year-old said. "And then you get to wondering if it's ever going to rain."
The drought that has gripped parts of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri since last summer has left some areas more than 20 inches behind in annual rainfall. 2005 was the ninth-driest year on record in Oklahoma. Some parts of Texas are going through their worst drought in 50 years.
No other region in the country has seen a greater drop-off in rainfall than southeastern Oklahoma, which received nearly 23 inches less than usual last year, the Oklahoma Climatological Survey reports. The entire state ended the year with nearly a 10-inch shortfall.
By KELLY KURT
Associated Press Writer
CANADIAN, Okla.
Bill Lawson's thirsty pastures crunch underfoot, just like the dried mud in the dead and dying farm ponds that stopped sustaining his cattle weeks ago. His herd follows his pickup truck, lowing for feed because the wheat they usually graze on failed to come up. Fields that should be 6-inch-high seas of shamrock green sit yellowed and dusty, feeding only the black crows that swoop down to steal the unsprouted seed.
The Oklahoma rancher moves his herd from shrinking puddle to shrinking pond, fearing grass fires, hoping for rain and knowing that 50 years of farming will end if it doesn't come in significant amounts.
"Weeks go by and you get nothing. And then months go by, and you get nothing," the 72-year-old said. "And then you get to wondering if it's ever going to rain."
The drought that has gripped parts of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri since last summer has left some areas more than 20 inches behind in annual rainfall. 2005 was the ninth-driest year on record in Oklahoma. Some parts of Texas are going through their worst drought in 50 years.
No other region in the country has seen a greater drop-off in rainfall than southeastern Oklahoma, which received nearly 23 inches less than usual last year, the Oklahoma Climatological Survey reports. The entire state ended the year with nearly a 10-inch shortfall.