Drought in Texas, September 1 to 5, 2006

The severe to extreme long-term drought conditions that began in late 2005 over much of the Southern Plains of the U.S. were alleviated during the first week of September over the west Texas region. Severe (D2) drought conditions were observed during the first weeks of September over the far eastern South Plains, the extreme southeastern panhandle, and the Rolling Plains regions of west Texas. Widespread rains associated with the remnants of the Eastern Pacific Hurricane "John" during the Labor Day weekend (September 1st through the 3rd), however, provided enough soaking rains to downgrade long-term drought conditions to Abnormally Dry (D0) and Moderate (D1) across the entire region per the U.S. Drought Monitor. Local farmers and agricultural officials, however, continued to note losses through early September. Many area newspapers reported that an estimated 70,000 acres of cotton crops were lost through the early days of the month. These losses were generally from acreage classified as having a low-yield potential due to hardships suffered through the growing season. Milo, peanut, and pumpkin crops also were notably stressed, but the timing of recent rains was thought to be beneficial for these sectors of the local agricultural industry.Many area ranchers continued to sell cattle pre-maturely due to continued drought-related hardships. The lack of rain during the growing season resulted in poor hay crops. This caused the price of hay to exceed $130 per ton; up from only $80 per ton one year ago. Ranchers have had difficulty affording hay to feed the cattle, thus many head of cattle have been sold at very early ages resulting in lower selling prices.The impact of the long-term drought on the local economy in 2006 has been estimated to exceed $230 million. Drought event end-time was estimated based on updates from the U.S. Drought Monitor and the occurrence of widespread rainfall.