Beryl has been no exception: Over the past week, the storm damaged crops, soaked rabbits and chickens, terrified goats, put horses at risk of developing colic and left cows without fences to keep them penned in. And the lasting power outages have been particularly devastating for animal caretakers who urgently need water, feed and supplies.
But with trees downed, power out, gas in short supply and many local businesses temporarily out of commission, farmers in the Houston area have had to find ways to cope, relying on each other, neighbors and community resources to recover.
“We all take care of each other,” said Tracy Hord, 57, who owns an equestrian facility with her husband Greg on the outskirts of Houston, which boards and trains horses. “The normal public doesn’t know what it takes … to take care of this. You have to keep it moving because the horses can’t do without or your livestock can’t do without.”
They already have driven about an hour each way into the city this week as they scrambled to get enough bedding, the wooden shavings that line the horses’ stalls.
Extreme weather like drought, floods and storms all hit farmers hard, especially those with small outfits, and scientists expect many of those nasty conditions to get worse as a result of climate change.
Dozier estimated there are between 14,000 and 20,000 head of cattle alone in the area between Houston and Beaumont.
That many livestock usually can’t be evacuated before a storm. Occasionally people will move horses or other smaller animals, but otherwise farmers have to prepare by moving their herds to higher ground and making sure they have a way to shelter in place.
Since then, the program’s 26 agents, supported occasionally by more agents from the university’s agricultural extension arm, have helped members of the agriculture industry respond to wildfires, tornadoes, floods and more across the state. Producers can fill out a damage survey online, requesting additional resources, advice or an in-person visit if they need it.
Texas A&M’s response team provides pickup points with animal supplies after storms but also tries to move out quickly once local operators are back in business. That’s someone’s livelihood too, Dozier said.
One such operator, Chuck Ridder, has owned Knox Drive Farm & Feed for about 20 years and says that whenever something like this happens, he will open even without electricity.
“We know animals have to eat,” he said.
Before Beryl hit, Ridder moved hundreds of bags to storage areas several feet off the ground in case the warehouse was flooded. Luckily, he said, water never entered his warehouse. But Beryl’s strong winds damaged one of the warehouse’s metal doors. He had to put the door back in place as the storm was still passing through Porter to ensure rain and wind didn’t damage his feed supply inside the warehouse.
Many Texas farmers aren’t strangers to bad weather.
“One of my producers told me, ‘If you farm in Texas, you need to learn to farm in a continuous drought interrupted by times of flooding,’” Dozier said. “That’s the mindset that you need to have.”
It’s a challenging reality that means people have to trust each other in hard times, and many of them do.
Customers, neighbors and friends alike come through Ridder’s doors knowing they’ll likely be able to get what they need even when the power is out. One of Ridder’s good friends, Tommy Johnson, is a longtime customer who keeps his 14 South African Boer goats in a pen by Ridder’s warehouse.
Ridder said Johnson knows where the key is located to unlock the back door of his business.
“Anytime that they need something, just leave a note,” Ridder said.
Ridder said when he needed a chainsaw to cut down some trees that were knocked down around his store and home, Johnson picked one up for him.
“We lean on each other, try to help the best we can,” Johnson said.
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Walling reported from Chicago. Follow her on X: @MelinaWalling.
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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Catherine Ward, owner of One Acre Farms, a functioning educational farm to help special needs kids, stands next to a tree uprooted by hurricane Beryl that crashed onto a duck pen fence Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. In addition to the downed trees, Ward has damage to other livestock pens and has been without power since hurricane Beryl passed through. She is running the farm on a large portable generator, mainly used to keep the water well functioning for all the livestock.(AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Goats peak out from their stalls at One Acre Farms, a functioning educational farm to help special needs kids, owned by Catherine Ward Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. In addition to uprooted trees and damage to her livestock pens, Ward has been without power since hurricane Beryl passed through and she is running the farm on a large portable generator, mainly used to keep the water well functioning for all the livestock. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Catherine Ward, owner of One Acre Farms, a functioning educational farm to help special needs kids, talks about the property damage and impact to her livestock caused by hurricane Beryl Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Ward has been without power since hurricane Beryl passed through and is running the farm on a large portable generator, mainly used to keep the water well functioning for all the livestock. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
A duck sits in a pen damaged by an uprooted tree from hurricane Beryl at One Acre Farms, a functioning educational farm to help special needs kids, owned by Catherin Ward, Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. In addition to the downed trees, Ward has damage to other livestock pens and has been without power since hurricane Beryl passed through. She is running the farm on a large portable generator, mainly used to keep the water well functioning for all the livestock.(AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Catherine Ward, owner of One Acre Farms, a functioning educational farm to help special needs kids, gets feed ready for her various livestock Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Ward has been without power since hurricane Beryl passed through and is running the farm on a large portable generator, mainly used to keep the water well functioning for all the livestock. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Catherine Ward, owner of One Acre Farms, a functioning educational farm to help special needs kids, feeds her rabbits in a hutch currently missing some of it’s roofing from hurrican Beryl Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. In addition to uprooted trees and damage to her livestock pens, Ward has been without power since hurricane Beryl passed through and is running the farm on a large portable generator, mainly used to keep the water well functioning for all the livestock. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Student’s boots are lined up on a rack at One Acre Farms, a functioning educational farm to help special needs kids, owned by Cathrine Ward, Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. In addition to uprooted trees and damage to her livestock pens, Ward’s farm has been without power since hurricane Beryl passed through and she is running the farm on a large portable generator, mainly used to keep the water well functioning for all the livestock. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Catherine Ward, owner of One Acre Farms, a functioning educational farm to help special needs kids, stands next to a tree uprooted by hurricane Beryl that crashed onto a duck pen fence Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. In addition to the downed trees, Ward has damage to other livestock pens and has been without power since hurricane Beryl passed through. She is running the farm on a large portable generator, mainly used to keep the water well functioning for all the livestock.(AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Catherine Ward, owner of One Acre Farms, a functioning educational farm to help special needs kids, feeds her flaxen welsh pony named “Honey” Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Ward has been without power since hurricane Beryl passed through and is running the farm on a large portable generator, mainly used to keep the water well functioning for all the livestock. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
A horse is lead from it’s stall to the pasture at Coyote Creek Sporthorses, owned by Greg and Tracy Hord, Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. The Hords lost roofing on their stables and a few trees around the property, and is still without power four days after Beryl. He installed a generator a few years ago and is currently using it to run his 35 horse stable operation, but still is having difficulty securing other supplies like stall bedding, feed and other items. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Tracy Hord, who with her husband Greg, own Coyote Creek Sporthorses, feeds treats to one of their hunter jumper horses named “Quantum” in his stall Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. The Hords lost roofing on their stables and a few trees around the property, and is still without power four days after Beryl. He installed a generator a few years ago and is currently using it to run his 35 horse stable operation, but still is having difficulty securing other supplies like stall bedding, feed and other items. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Greg Hord, owner of Coyote Creek Sporthorses, talks about the impact of hurricane Beryl on his stables Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Hord lost roofing on his stables and a few trees around the property, and is still without power four days after Beryl. He installed a generator a few years ago and is currently using it to run his 35 horse stable operation, but still is having difficulty securing other supplies like stall bedding, feed and other items. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Greg Hord, owner of Coyote Creek Sporthorses, with one of his hunter jumper horses named “Quantum” at his stables Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Hord lost roofing on his stables and a few trees around the property, and is still without power four days after Beryl. He installed a generator a few years ago and is currently using it to run his 35 horse stable operation, but still is having difficulty securing other supplies like stall bedding, feed and other items. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Greg Hord, owner of Coyote Creek Sporthorses, talks about the impact of hurricane Beryl on his stables Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Hord lost roofing on his stables and a few trees around the property, and is still without power four days after Beryl. He installed a generator a few years ago and is currently using it to run his 35 horse stable operation, but still is having difficulty securing other supplies like stall bedding, feed and other items. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Greg Hord, left, and Tracy Hord, owners of Coyote Creek Sporthorses, talk about the impact of hurricane Beryl on their stables Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Hord lost roofing on his stables and a few trees around the property, and is still without power four days after Beryl. He installed a generator a few years ago and is currently using it to run his 35 horse stable operation, but still is having difficulty securing other supplies like stall bedding, feed and other items. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Chuck Ridder, owner of Knox Drive Farm and Feed, points out the uprooted tree that fell on his pens used by local 4H students, along with other impacts of hurricane Beryl on him, his feed store and customers Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Ridder has always been a proponent of community banding together during hard times and has expanded bartering and extending credit for his customers as they all work to recover from Beryl. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Chuck Ridder, owner of Knox Drive Farm and Feed, loads bags of horse feed into a customer’s pick-up truck Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Ridder moved all his hay and feed onto stacked pallets to elevate it out of the flood waters caused by the hurricane. Ridder has always been a proponent of community banding together during hard times and has expanded his bartering and extending credit for his customers as they all work to recover from Beryl. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Chuck Ridder, owner of Knox Drive Farm and Feed, talks inside his feed store warehouse about the impact of hurricane Beryl on him, his feed store and customers Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Ridder moved all his hay and feed onto stacked pallets to elevate it out of the flood waters caused by the hurricane. Ridder has always been a proponent of community banding together during hard times and has expanded bartering and extending credit for his customers as they all work to recover from Beryl. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Chuck Ridder, owner of Knox Drive Farm and Feed, at pens adjacent to his feed store used by local 4H students, talks about other impacts of hurricane Beryl on him, his feed store and customers Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Ridder has always been a proponent of community banding together during hard times and has expanded bartering and extending credit for his customers as they all work to recover from Beryl. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Chuck Ridder, owner of Knox Drive Farm and Feed, talks inside his feed store warehouse about the impact of hurricane Beryl on him, his feed store and customers Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Ridder moved all his hay and feed onto stacked pallets to elevate it out of the flood waters caused by the hurricane. Ridder has always been a proponent of community banding together during hard times and has expanded bartering and extending credit for his customers as they all work to recover from Beryl. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Chuck Ridder, left, owner of Knox Drive Farm & Feed, listens as his customer Tommy Johnson talks about, in the aftermath of hurricane Beryl, how he was able to bring his show goats to the dry pasture adjacent to Ridder’s feed store Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Ridder has always been a proponent of community banding together during hard times and has expanded his bartering and extending credit for his customers as they all work to recover from Beryl. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
Tommy Johnson, a long time customer Knox Drive Farm & Feed, owned by Chuck Ridder, talks about, in the aftermath of hurricane Beryl, how he was able to bring his show goats to the dry pasture adjacent to Ridder’s feed store Friday, July 12, 2024, in Porter, Texas. Ridder has always been a proponent of community banding together during hard times and has expanded his bartering and extending credit for his customers as they all work to recover from Beryl. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)(AP)
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