Hurricane

Ag Sector Could Score Big in Stopgap Spending

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 19:53:55 GMT

The House of Representatives released its Continuing Resolution (CR) text today, which includes:

A one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill
Around $10 billion in farmer economic aid
$21 billion in ag disaster funding for 2023 and 2024, which is part of the $100.4 billion to help the hurricane-stricken Southeast
Year-round E15 sales, which is a major victory for the corn and ethanol industries

The plan will offer credits to small refiners that petitioned for exemptions from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandates (2016 to 2018 compliance years) but were denied or had pending petitions as of Dec. 1, 2022. The RFS requires refiners to blend biofuels such as ethanol into gasoline or purchase compliance credits.

The provision would override a previous U.S. government decision allowing year-round E15 sales only in eight Midwestern states (set to begin in 2025).

Extension of Orphan Programs in 2018 Farm Bill
There also appears to be an extension of orphan programs in the 2018 farm bill extension and a permanent 1890s scholarship program. The icing on the cake is a four-year extension of SNAP fraud via the skimming reimbursement language.

Orphan programs are ones that were authorized in the 2018 farm bill but did not have funding beyond a specified year. The extension provides $177 million of new mandatory funding for programs that did not have a budget baseline. This ensures these programs can continue to operate during the extension period.

The 1890s scholarship program provides scholarships for students attending 1890 land-grant universities, which are historically Black colleges and universities that were established under the Second Morrill Act of 1890.

The SNAP Fraud Reimbursement extension is the continuation of reimbursements for stolen Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. This provision protects SNAP recipients from losses due to benefit theft via card skimming, cloning and other similar methods. States will continue to be required to replace stolen benefits under this measure.

One source said, “Good policy would be emphasizing the need for states to transition to more secure measures for SNAP recipients, including stronger identity verification practices.”

Of Note
Senate Ag Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) did not get her wish to move conservation/climate funding into a one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill. That discussion will occur next year.

Economic Aid and Disaster Funding
Disaster aid for crop losses due to natural disasters for 2023 and 2024 will total $21 billion.

The discussions for economic aid centered on a $10 billion package to help farmers cope with price declines and rising input costs. House Agriculture Chairman GT Thompson (R-Pa.) indicated that $10 billion is the minimum he would accept. He mentioned Republican support for reallocating conservation program funds from the 2022 legislation into the farm bill baseline, but that Republicans are disputing the “guardrails” that require funds to support “climate-smart” projects.

Thompson also noted concerns that some critics want to ensure President-elect Donald Trump would have access to funds to compensate farmers for potential retaliation stemming from new Trump import tariffs.

Year-Round E-15
Year-round sales of E15 ethanol has been a long-standing goal for corn growers and ethanol producers, particularly in states such as Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota where a significant portion of corn production goes into ethanol.

Currently, E15 is available at more than 3,200 gas stations in the U.S., indicating room for growth (there are more than 196,000 fuel stations in the U.S.). About 95% of model year 2024 vehicles are explicitly approved for E15 use by manufacturers.

The actual increase in ethanol usage would likely be gradual as E15 adoption expands. While the theoretical maximum ethanol usage through year-round E15 sales could reach 20,586 million gallons annually, the actual increase would depend on factors such as consumer adoption and infrastructure development — separate fuel handling and storage for E15.

Now What?
A vote in the House won’t happen until at least Thursday night if House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sticks to his plan to honor the rule giving members 72 hours to review the bill.

Other House Happenings
House Democrats removed Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) as their senior Agriculture Committee leader after he received just 5 votes in Monday’s influential steering panel vote. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) emerged as the frontrunner with 34 votes, while Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) trailed with 22 votes. Craig now heads into Tuesday’s full caucus vote, seeking additional support. Craig plans to rally House colleagues for the final vote. Meanwhile, Costa vowed to keep pushing and will try to supplant Craig in the full caucus. Lawmakers had anticipated Scott’s ouster amid growing skepticism of his leadership — Scott has dropped out of the race.

Craig indicated part of her pitch to the panel was that there are no other Ranking Members for Democrats from the U.S. Midwest.

“There’s not a single ranking member from the middle of the country right now, and that was certainly part of my pitch to my colleagues, is that if we want to represent this whole country, then we need ranking members and leaders in the Democratic Party who are from the whole country,” she stated.

Craig came into Congress in 2019 while Costa and Scott were elected in the early 2000s.

GOP Eyes Strategic Appointment to Boost House Majority
Republicans may have found a way to temporarily expand their narrow House majority: appointing a Democrat to the Trump administration. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) is reportedly being considered to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) next year. The move would leave Democrats short a vote for weeks, bolster the GOP’s edge, and possibly help Republicans flip Moskowitz’s seat. Moskowitz, who previously served as Florida’s emergency management director under Gov. Ron DeSantis, could gain significant recognition if he pursues a 2026 gubernatorial bid. While his office and House Democratic leadership declined to comment, the appointment’s political ramifications are being closely watched ahead of Monday’s internal party elections.

Take our Poll: Do you think Congress should pass emergency relief for farmers in the CR? You can voice your opinion in our AgWeb poll.

Hurricane Helene Wreaks Havoc for Cattle Producers in the Southeast

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 22:04:27 GMT

A cross made from logs still stands, a testament to faith and prayers for protection. Beyond that, miles of trees strewn about or snapped in two. Outbuildings lie smashed to pieces. Downed fences. Flooding everywhere. That’s the scene Georgia cattlewoman Stephanie Miller describes after Hurricane Helene hit the morning of Sept. 27.

“It literally looks like a scene out of a twister movie,” Miller recounts. She and her partner, Kye Lamm, share a rural home in Rockledge, about an hour southeast of Macon.

During the pandemic, many Georgians put up these crosses during a ‘Faith Over Fear’ campaign. Several were still standing after the storm.

(Stephanie H. Miller)

“We could feel the storm come in about 1:30 in the morning. By 2 a.m., we had completely lost power, and we just laid there. I was like, ‘Lord, please let everything hold on.’ About 4:45, we thought it was stopping because it literally sounded like a freight train. Living in Georgia, we know what tornadoes sound like. It felt like and sounded like a tornado for about three and a half hours. At 4:45, we opened the front door because it had got calm. Little did we know that’s when the eye was passing over.”

As the storm ramped up, a 60-year old pecan tree in their front yard came down right in from of them, narrowly missing the house.

“The storm passed through a lot of our area,” Miller says. “In our area in Georgia, we have a lot of cattle. Many of our farmers who row crop also have cattle. We’re right here in the middle of harvest season. We’ve been pretty much throat punched.”

Miller and Lamm own Sundown Cattle Company and background yearlings. They also help other producers with herd management, consulting and putting together lots to send to the Midwest and Texas. They have spent the days since the storm helping with clean up, gathering and recovery efforts.

Sundown Cattle Co. has opened up their backgrounding yard for any cattle producers who need to hold cattle until facilities can be rebuilt.

(Stephanie H. Miller)

“There’s so much loss, both human and livestock,” she shares. “We had to put down nine of our cattle as they were just mangled under the trees.”

With the lack of power and cell service, Miller says it’s been hard to communicate. She says friends, neighbors and other cattle producers have been trying to coordinate help for each other.

“We’re probably about 12 counties linked together, and a lot of us know what we’re all going through,” she says. “Everybody is swapping out services and cell numbers. When we do have cell phone service, we’ve just been lining up everything this week, asking if people need help.”

Miller says they have been calling on each other to help get cattle off the river, bringing in portable corrals, horses and dogs, doctoring cattle and cutting through downed trees with chainsaws to make a path.

There is very little water, and the water that comes in is used quickly. Everyone is without power. Gas for generators is scarce, Miller says.

“People where we’re at today are having to drive 40 to 50 miles to get gas because the gas stations here are mom and pops, and there’s lines. People line up for two or three hours just to get gas,” she explains the reality they are facing.

One of the biggest power providers, Altahama EMC’s entire territory was without power and is slowing starting to come back online.

“None of us have power. No power. No showers. Without power people aren’t able to run wells and water livestock,” she says.

With all of the rain, the ground is saturated and trees that didn’t fall during the storm are falling now and taking down more fences.

“We’re trying to cut our way to the pasture to get some portables in and get those cows off the river,” Miller says.

Cattleman Kye Lamm cuts through downed trees to make a path to get cattle off the river.

(Stephanie H. Miller)

The reality of the storm’s devastation and long-term impacts have started to sink in.

“A lot of our row croppers have been on the urge of just throwing their hands in the air,” Miller says. “They have farmed this land for generations and now are having to make impossible decisions. When you’ve got miles and miles of fence down, and not the time or money to wait for equipment, they’re saying, ‘Sell them; I need them gone.’”

In addition, many farmers still haven’t harvested their crops.

“The peanuts, if you don’t get them out, they’re going to rot in the field,” she adds. “Some hard decisions have to be made.”

Many producers in Georgia are having to make tough decisions to sell cattle now.

(Stephanie H. Miller)

Miller says she’s not sure if the outside world really understands what Georgia and the Southeast are going through. In addition to the cattle business, Miller also hosts a morning radio show about faith, family and farming. While the power was restored to the station, there still is not power to the tower.

“We haven’t really had access to the internet or TV, so I’m not broadcasting right now. I can’t even use that to link people together because we don’t have that access right now,” she explains.

To put this storm into perspective, Millers says Lamm has done a lot of work in Florida and helped cowboy down there during Hurricane Charlie. He said we’re not built for hurricanes up here.

“We’re built for tornadoes, but not for hurricanes,” she says. “We’ve lost so much of our pecan trees. We’re talking 60-to-80-year-old pecan trees. They’re gone. They have a shallow root system. The planted pine trees looked like they could have been harvested at any point this year. Now they’re laid over. If they’re not laid over, they’re snapped in two. We’re a big logging community down here. Every other truck is a rock truck or a log truck. They can only salvage trees for pulp wood now.”

Millers says people have memories of surviving Hurricane Michael in 2018.

“It came through the same path,” she says. “Everybody tried to prepare, but there was no way to prepare for this — miles and miles and miles of destruction and flooding.”

With the port strikes, Miller fears the additional pressure on the supply chain. The meat processing plant in Augusta was also closed due to lack of power.

“When you start to think about the supply chain, it could really be broken,” she says.

Even with all the destruction and despair, Miller remains optimistic.

“We’re still surviving, and we’re working together to make sure everybody is taken care of,” she says. “That’s been the beautiful thing — to see people of all ethnicities, all political backgrounds, no matter what they believe in, they’re coming together and working together to get through this. Something that could easily divide us is actually bringing us together.”

Miller says she sees so much resiliency in the people of the Southeast.

“We feel like we’ve taken it from every direction with this hurricane,” she explains. “But you see people on the side of the road, they may be strangers, but they’re working together. I was riding my horse on the river, when we were trying to push a set out, and I was thinking all these people are literally the hands and feet of Jesus.”

Your next read: Producer Resources for Hurricane Helene Relief

Florida's Hurricane Ian Losses Total Over $1 Billion

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 20:14:00 GMT

Florida’s Department of Ag issued preliminary loss figures from Hurricane Ian. Losses to Florida ag and infrastructure total between $1.18 billion and $1.89 billion, according to the preliminary assessment.

The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Ag Services (UF/IFAS) last week said that the preliminary losses for Ian were around $1.56 billion, while the government update issued this week takes into account citrus tree replacement, animal infrastructure damage and forestry.

Hurricane Ian Disaster Aid

Florida Commissioner of Ag Nikki Fried said the preliminary assessment is a “first step” in trying to get federal disaster aid for affected producers, noting the state would continue working with industry partners to “gain further insight into the depth and breadth of Ian’s damage.”

Detailed figures from the state on Hurricane Ian include:

$676 million for citrus, including fruit loss (up to $304 million) and tree loss ($371 million).
Storm is likely to have destroyed 8% to 11% of Florida citrus trees, which would be more than 6.1 million trees.
Other fruit and vegetable losses are pegged at up to $231 million, a loss of about 10% to 15%, while losses for row crops were put at about $160 million with horticultural crops seeing losses of around $297 million.
Losses for animal agriculture are seen at around $492 million which includes damage to things like barns, fences, equipment and roads besides losses of livestock and damage to forage production areas.

Loss Estimates for Hurricane Ian

USDA said earlier this month their estimates of U.S. citrus production were completed before Hurricane Ian arrived and the Florida citrus production figures released Oct. 12 did not reflect potential damage from the storm and that the next update on citrus production will come Dec. 9.

They also noted that the “full impact of the storm may not be reflected until future reports.”

More on Hurricane Ian:

Mosaic Shares Recovery Details After Hurricane Ian
Florida Producers Scramble to Reach Cattle After Hurricane Ian

Florida Producers Scramble to Reach Cattle After Hurricane Ian

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 13:48:04 GMT

Farmers in Florida rushed to reach their cattle on Thursday after trees downed by Hurricane Ian broke fences used to contain the animals and rain from the fierce storm flooded fields used for grazing.

One of the mightiest storms to hit the U.S. mainland in recent years, Ian flooded communities on the Gulf Coast before plowing across the peninsula to the Atlantic seaboard.

The hurricane washed out roads, hampering farmers’ attempts to corral cattle before they escape fenced areas in a potential threat to public safety.

“We’ve got trees all over the fence lines right now,” said Brian Shoop, who raises cattle in Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located. “The biggest concern is cattle getting out of the pastures and on the roadways.”

Cattle first arrived in the United States in Florida in 1521 on an expedition led by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce De Leon, according to the state and the Florida Beef Council. The state now has more than 1.6 million cattle, about 2% of the U.S. herd, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

Nationally, cattle supplies this summer fell to the lowest level in about seven years as producers in the western United States increased slaughter due to intense drought.

Shoop, who owns about 750 mother cows, said he restricted cattle at one location to roughly 40 acres from 300 acres while he repairs fences.

“It’s only a temporary Bandaid,” he said. “You shut ‘em down to a small area and you’ve got to worry about whether you have enough feed and water.”

Flooding is preventing some cattle from eating or resting, as fields were already wet from rains before the hurricane, said JB Wynn, a producer in Lake Wales.

“They don’t have any grass to graze on or anywhere they can lay down,” Wynn said.

Some help is coming from out of state. Stephen Broadwell, owner of livestock-services company Ranch Solutions in Erwin, North Carolina, said he is coordinating volunteers to travel to Florida to repair fences or supply feed.

“Everybody is just scrambling,” Broadwell said.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Resilience of Farmers on Full Display After Hurricane Ida Ravaged Louisiana Agriculture

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 17:23:05 GMT

Hurricane Ida ravaged Louisiana agriculture this fall. The hurricane brought as much as two feet of rain in some areas, as producers grappled with losses and aftermath.

“My community took a hell of a beating,” Ashly Pitre, president of LaFourche Parish Cattleman’s Association, told “This Week in Louisiana Agriculture.”

Cattle were stranded for days, and producers worked around the clock to get to their livestock and move them to safety. But even then, the Hurricane left its mark, as This Week in Louisiana Agriculture covered it first-hand this year.

“My biggest concern is the water to drink,” Pitre says. “All that grass is rotten. The grass thinks the water stinks, and I’m concerned they might get sick by drinking that nasty water.”

“I lost everything due to, the rain,” said Derrick Jarvis. “It tore the roof off my barn where I keep my feed and hay. I lost everything.”

As producers worked to wade through the aftermath after Hurricane Ida, help for those who felt helpless was on its way.

“We’re here this afternoon at the Louis Mouch Junior Multipurpose Facility in Port Allen, La., and we’re waiting on a delivery of hay for livestock recovery for Hurricane Ida,” Christine Navarre told Louisiana Farm Bureau.

With the warnings of Hurricane Ida’s arrival, she was getting calls from people in Texas saying they were there to help. The orchestrated effort of support was powerful to see.

“This is what farming is all about,” said Jason LeBlanc. “Neighbors helping neighbors. No one farmer has everything they need. They always have to rely on a neighbor to help them — no matter what it is, they always need a neighbor.”

As Farmers and Ranchers Measure Impact from Hurricane Ida, Here's How You Can Help

Fri, 03 Sep 2021 20:51:27 GMT

Less than a week after Louisiana was ravaged by Hurricane Ida , farmers and ranchers are assessing the damage with recovery gets underway. And now a disaster relief fund is aimed to provide financial help.

The Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation is engaging the Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation Disaster Relief Fund for the second time in as many years in response to damage caused by Hurricane Ida. Ida tied as the strongest storm to ever make landfall in Louisiana.

Hurricane Ida’s 150 mph winds destroyed the homes of farmers and ranchers along its path with some farmers reporting they remained in the eye wall of the storm for six hours. Thousands of head of cattle have been displaced because of damaged fences and flooding, The wind toppled pine trees and hardwood ready for harvest and blew sugarcane flat, affecting about 25% of the crop.

“Our farmers and ranchers really didn’t need another natural disaster” said Louisiana Farm Bureau President Jim Harper. “Last year they had to endure five tropical systems making landfall in Louisiana, including hurricanes Laura and Delta.”

The Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation Disaster Relief Fund is the conduit established by the state’s largest general farm organization following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 to get funds into the hands of those involved in agriculture for rebuilding and recovery.

“We’re already seeing farmers helping farmers here at home, but those out of state are looking for ways they can help,” Harper said. “The Disaster Relief Fund gives them a way to help folks here recover, without having to travel.”

“We’re going to make sure every dollar donated gets into the hands of a farmer or rancher who needs it,” said Harper.

During the Farm Journal Farm Country Update this week, Vilsack gave an update on where USDA stands with assessing the damage, as well as possible next steps in gettin producers help.

Overall, damage from Hurricane Ida is estimated to cost $18 billion. That estimate includes more than just the losses to agriculture.

To donate, make checks payable to Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and mail them to:

Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation

Disaster Relief Fund

P.O. Box 95004

Baton Rouge, LA 70895-9004

Storm Delivers Latest Blow to Farm Economy as Elevators Shut

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:49:51 GMT

(Bloomberg) -- America’s agricultural economy is bracing for yet another hit as Tropical Storm Barry barrels toward Louisiana, with grain elevators, cotton fields and cane crops in its projected path.

Cargill Inc., an agribusiness giant and America’s largest closely held company, said it shuttered its Louisiana export grain elevators on Thursday in anticipation of the storm. The Gulf of Mexico is a key region for U.S. agriculture exports, with almost half of this year’s grain shipments loading along the Mississippi River, government inspections data show. The state is also home to corn, sorghum and soybean crops.

Mother Nature has been merciless to American farmers this year. Incessant rains have washed out farms, flooded rural Midwestern towns and waterways, hampering the flow of agricultural products and hindered plantings in the first half of 2019. The weather woes come as crop prices have stayed depressed amid the U.S.-China trade war and hefty supply gluts.

The industry’s wrestling with “very late plantings, the latest we’ve had certainly for corn, and you follow that too with the weather,” Cargill Chief Financial Officer David Dines said in a telephone interview Thursday. “It’s a challenging time. We’ve navigated it relatively well. But for example, we’ve had to close down two facilities to get ready for Tropical Storm Barry that’s coming. In some ways, it may be more acute this year.”

Climate change has brought increased risks to agriculture from floods, storms, drought and heat. While America’s crop belt suffered from a deluge, wheat growers in parts of Europe have had to deal with scorching temperatures and dry conditions.

In Louisiana, local prices signal the market is positioning for supply disruptions from the storm as shipping is grinding to a halt along the southern reaches of the Mississippi River. The soybean basis in the Gulf jumped 5.3% on Thursday, the steepest climb since June 7, to 50 cents a bushel, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. The figure measures the amount above futures that buyers are willing to pay.

Prices for soybeans at elevators in New Orleans climbed a fourth straight day, the longest streak since June 17.

Cotton plants in the southern portions of the Mississippi Delta region could be badly affected by the storm, according to Don Keeney, a senior agricultural meteorologist with Maxar in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Sugar cane is also likely to get serious damage from flooding, while corn may face “a little bit of wind damage,” he said.

Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi -- each of which are in Barry’s path -- accounted for most of the rice grown in the U.S. last year. In top-producer Arkansas, heavy rain expected to arrive by Sunday could disrupt crop development, Jarrod Hardke, an agronomist at the University of Arkansas, said. Rice crops already were struggling after rains delayed spring plantings and then were hit with high temperatures.

Cushion the Blow

The impact on futures markets could be limited, though. There’s plenty of U.S. cotton in inventory that can help cushion the blow of supply loss, and the region is not a major global supplier of sugar and corn.

Still, U.S. cotton plantings have already been hampered by wet conditions this year, and storms present an additional threat, Michael Deliberto, an agricultural professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, said by email.

What’s more, since crops are still in early development stages and pretty far from being ready to harvest, there’s little farmers can do to prevent damage except make sure that their drainage systems are open and that any equipment is on high ground, said Kyle McCann, assistant to the president of the Louisiana Farm Bureau.

(Updates with comment on rice crops)

--With assistance from Kevin Varley, Shruti Date Singh and Michael Hirtzer.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mario Parker in Chicago at mparker22@bloomberg.net;Denitsa Tsekova in New York at dtsekova@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Attwood at jattwood3@bloomberg.net, Millie Munshi

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Harvey may not have dealt devastating blow to Texas ranchers

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:21:05 GMT

GLEN FLORA, Texas (AP) — As John Locke looked down from a helicopter at his roughly 200 cattle struggling with Harvey’s rising floodwaters, he saw about 20 becoming entangled in a barbed wire fence and feared the worst.

Bundled in a lifejacket, the 38-year-old rancher jumped in to try and help. But by the time he reached the Brahmans, a beef cow species that originated in India and is known for its distinctive hump, most had already freed themselves and headed for higher ground with the rest of the herd.

“I thought they were going to die, and they’re fine, which is kind of a theme for the whole thing,” Locke said.

The damage Harvey inflicted on Texas’ cattle industry hasn’t been calculated yet, but there’s evidence that it might be less than initially feared and perhaps not as costly as Hurricane Ike. That came ashore in 2008 as a weaker storm but with more salty storm surge that wiped out pastures for months. Even though Harvey unleashed catastrophic flooding on counties that are home to 1.2 million beef cattle, which is more than a fourth of the state’s herd, there were apparently only a few instances in which large groups of cows drowned.

To be sure, some ranchers were walloped by Harvey, including at least one family that lost hundreds of cattle in flooding that reached the rooftops of low-lying homes near Beaumont, said Bill Hyman, who heads the Independent Cattleman’s Association of Texas. And even surviving cattle can bring increased costs, as they can face longer-term health problems from standing in water for days, having gone long periods without eating and stress.

Hyman said he expects the association’s membership to fall by 5 percent because some affected ranchers, especially older ones, will leave the business.

But whatever damage Harvey did cause shouldn’t trigger a short-term rise in beef prices, said David Anderson, a Texas A&M University professor and agricultural economist. Texas is the nation’s top cattle producer, with cow and calf sales averaging $10.7 billion annually between 2011 and 2014. But there are 30 million beef cows in the U.S. and most of the Texas beef industry’s feed lots and packing plants are concentrated in parts of the state that escaped the storm.

“Individual ranchers are going to see huge financial effects,” Anderson said, including livestock killed; replacing destroyed homes, feed, fences and equipment; and purchasing medicines to protect cows from post-Harvey health problems. “But I don’t think we’re going to see much at all in the way of market impacts, changes in calf prices for other ranchers, or in the consumer beef prices.”

One sign that Harvey might not have been as bad on ranchers as had been feared is that there were, in the early weeks after Harvey, fewer than 10 applications to a federal program that provides aid for livestock carcass disposal, said assistant state conservationist Mark Habiger, who cautioned that it’s still too early to declare that a crisis was averted. Federal officials urged ranchers to burn cattle killed in the storm because the soil is so saturated that burying them could spread contamination.

When Ike hit Texas nine years ago, it cost the ranching industry at least an estimated $37 million, killing up to 5,000 cattle and decimating pastureland with saltwater storm surge. During Harvey, most of the flooding was freshwater that came from rains and rivers, meaning many ranches won’t have to deal with grasslands hurt by saltwater — though some closer to the Gulf Coast still might.

At Locke’s J.D. Hudgins Ranch in Glen Flora, a village with just one post office and an antique shop about 60 miles (96 kilometers) southwest of Houston, the cattle have returned to grazing in lush pastures that are greener than ever. Although Locke’s family lost three cows and a calf to Harvey and a few survivors seemed sluggish or walked with a limp as he herded them under a fence one recent day, Locke said it could have been much worse.

“We’re just happy they’re still here,” he said.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press