{"id":23331,"date":"2013-01-18T14:35:53","date_gmt":"2013-01-18T20:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=23331"},"modified":"2013-01-19T01:00:04","modified_gmt":"2013-01-19T07:00:04","slug":"drought-claims-2000-jobs-in-panhandle-with-plant-closure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/01\/18\/drought-claims-2000-jobs-in-panhandle-with-plant-closure\/","title":{"rendered":"Drought Claims 2,000 Jobs in Panhandle"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo Courtesy of the USDA. http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/usdagov\/7732742494\/in\/photostream\/<\/p>

USDA workers inspect an unnamed beef processing plant in Plainview, Texas in 1991.<\/p><\/div>\n

A beef processing plant in Plainview, Texas will close its doors today, citing a dwindling cattle supply in the region. Wichita, Kansas-based Cargill Beef <\/a>said in a press release that about 2,000 jobs will be lost. The supply issue was brought on primarily by “years of drought in Texas and the Southern Plains states,” the company says.<\/p>\n

“The U.S. cattle herd is at its lowest level since 1952,”\u00a0Cargill president John Keating said in the statement. “Increased feed costs resulting from the prolonged drought, combined with herd liquidations by cattle ranchers, are severely and adversely contributing to the challenging business conditions we face as an industry.”<\/p>\n

A rainier-than-expected winter and spring last year prompted some to think the Texas cattle industry might rebound, but the closure underlines the long-term effects that the years long dry spell has had on Texas agriculture.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t just bring cattle back the day it rains. You have to let grasses regrow and your forage base reestablish before you can bring cattle in,\u201d Travis Miller, a scientist with Texas A&M\u2019s Agrilife Extension Service, told KUT radio.<\/p>\n

Even when ranchers decide to reinvest in cattle, it doesn’t mean more cattle will head to the slaughterhouse. In fact, it can mean exactly the opposite.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it does rain, we ranchers will start retaining heifers to build these cow numbers back. There\u2019s going to be a time there when there\u2019s actually going to be less beef on the market,\u201d Pete Bonds, former head of the Texas Cattle Raisers Association, told StateImpact Texas in a 2011 interview. <\/a><\/p>\n

Though the chance for heavy rains in Texas is appearing less and less likely, and the return of more extreme drought is becoming an increasingly realistic prospect<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Community Hit Hard<\/h4>\n

Cargill is the largest employer in the Panhandle community of 22,500 and news of the closure is described as “shocking” in the Lubbock Avalanche Journal<\/a>, though local officials appear to be keeping a stiff upper lip in the wake of the closure.<\/p>\n

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