Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




WATER WORLD
Ranchers pray for rain in drought-hit California
by Staff Writers
Delano, United States (AFP) Feb 06, 2014


Californian rancher Nathan Carver squints as he surveys the parched fields where his family has raised cattle for five generations.

Normally, they would be covered in lush green grass. But the western US state's worst drought in decades has reduced the land to a moonscape, leaving the 55-year-old father-of-four praying for rain.

"My grandparents tell of the Dust Bowl years in the late 30s when it was very bad and dry with dust storms blowing. But this is as bad as we have ever seen it in my lifetime," he told AFP.

Governor Jerry Brown last month declared a state of emergency due to what could be the worst drought in a century for California including its ultra-fertile Central Valley.

With no significant rain since November, state authorities identified 17 communities it warned could run out of water within 60-120 days, if the drought continues.

Only last Friday, California's State Water Project announced for the first time in its 54-year history that it cannot deliver anything beyond the bare minimum to maintain public health and safety.

For small family herdsman like Carver, the drought means no grass for their cattle to graze on.

The only options are buying hay at inflated prices -- 20 to 30 percent above usual because of demand -- or selling their cows.

"If the drought continues, we'll have to take desperate measures," Carver warned.

Drought means cattle sell-off

"Many of the ranchers are selling out. Because at some point, if you don't have the grass, you can't afford to buy the hay to feed the cows any more," he said at his ranch near Bakersfield.

Indeed, business appeared brisk at the weekly cattle auction in nearby Famoso, where buyers looked on from tiered benches as animals were led in for sale, the auctioneer shouting out fast-changing bids.

Justin Mebane, owner-manager of the Western Stockman's Market, said more cattle are being put up for sale, but things could get even busier.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," he told the local Bakersfield Californian newspaper. "If we don't get some rain ... ranchers will need to liquidate their herds."

Jack Lavers, who is on the executive committee of California Cattlemen's Association (CCA), told AFP that cattle markets like the one in Famoso would typically be handling 200 to 300 cattle a day.

"They're getting over 1,000 head a day right now. That's every sale yard up and down the state," said Lavers, who has already cut his 400-head herd by a third, and plans to sell another 10 to 20 percent in the next couple of months.

"It's phenomenal. Guys are just selling cattle as fast as they can, trying to save what feed they have or ... completely selling out. ..It's been bad for the last couple of years, but this year has really been the worst."

California's drought -- the third winter in a row with well below average rainfall -- has also extended the annual wildfire season through into the winter, including one just outside Los Angeles that forced thousands of residents to evacuate.

The western state's rivers and reservoirs have hit record lows, with only 20 percent of the normal average supplies of water from melting snowpack, which flows down from the Sierra Nevada.

Back on his ranch, Carver can see the foothills of the Sierra away to the east. Every spring he drives his 250-strong herd up onto more fertile higher pastures, before bringing them down to warmer temperatures in the winter.

Before the Gold Rush

One of his forefathers first began raising cattle here in 1837, when the land was still the Wild West, even before the Gold Rush. So the drought threat is a tough slog.

Despite the current crisis, the herdsman is determined that the family business will pass to one of his four children -- three sons and a daughter -- when he retires.

"This drought is very difficult to survive, not just in the physical and monetary sense, of buying hay and feeding the crows and all the work that goes with that. It's also very difficult on the mental and emotional side.

"Every day I have to come out here and feed the cows and look at this dry brown ground and it can be depressing and discouraging."

But he vowed to fight on, helped by the wisdom and knowledge handed down by "our family, our generations of family that have gone before us .. and our faith in God.

"Our hope for rain, that's what keeps ranchers in business," he said, adding: "Ranchers are eternal optimists. We always are hoping for a better year next year."

.


Related Links
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








WATER WORLD
Can workshops on household water use impact consumer behavior?
Gainesville FL (SPX) Feb 05, 2014
In Florida, where population growth, drought, and saltwater intrusion are affecting finite water sources, researchers are looking for effective ways to educate consumers about household water use habits. Despite an average annual rainfall of 55 inches, Florida was included on the Natural Resources Defense Council's list of states with the greatest risk of water shortages in the coming years; the ... read more


WATER WORLD
NASA Extends Moon Exploring Satellite Mission

NASA's LRO Snaps a Picture of NASA's LADEE Spacecraft

Sole camera from NASA moon missions to be auctioned

New results on the geologic characteristics of the Chang'e-3 exploration region

WATER WORLD
MAVEN on Track to Carry Out its Science Mission

NASA Mars Orbiter Examines Dramatic New Crater

Russia proposes water-hunting instrument for future Mars rover

Work on Mystery Rock Continues As Rover Marks 10

WATER WORLD
New scientific field looks at the big picture

Future interplanetary spacecraft to be equipped with 'plantations'

Russian Space Farmers Harvest Wheat, Peas and Greens

FAA Grants Waypoint 2 Space Safety Approval Of Training Programs

WATER WORLD
Moon plays trick on Jade Rabbit

Waiting for Yutu

'Goodnight, humans': Says Yutu As The Sun Sets

Extra Time for Tiangong

WATER WORLD
NASA Selects Physical Science Research Proposals for the ISS

Russian Cargo Craft Departure Clears Way for Next Delivery

NASA Extends Reliance on Russian Spacecraft Until 2018

British firm says its space station cameras to provide Web images

WATER WORLD
The go-ahead is given for Arianespace's February 6 flight with Ariane 5

SpaceX's next cargo mission to space station is Mar 16

Both payloads for Arianespace's next Ariane 5 flight are mated to the launcher

45th Space Wing Supports NASA Launch

WATER WORLD
One planet, two stars: new research shows how circumbinary planets form

First Weather Map of Brown Dwarf

NASA-Sponsored 'Disk Detective' Lets Public Search for New Planetary Nurseries

Astronomers create first map of weather on nearby brown dwarf star

WATER WORLD
Amazon buys videogame studio Double Helix

Diagnosis just a breath away with new laser

A Proposal For The Space Debris Society

Google mystery barge may be homeless




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement