After Beryl, Houston-area farmers unite to address unique challenges

PORTER, Texas – Hurricanes cause problems for everyone, but farmers have a whole other list of problems.

Beryl was no exception: Over the past week, the storm has damaged crops, soaked rabbits and chickens, terrified goats, put horses at risk of colic and left cows without fences to keep them corralled. And the prolonged power outages have been particularly devastating for animal keepers in dire need of water, food and supplies.

But with downed trees, power outages, a gas shortage and many local businesses temporarily out of service, Houston-area farmers have had to find ways to cope, relying on each other, their neighbors and community resources to recover.

“We all take care of each other,” said Tracy Hord, 57, who with her husband Greg owns a suburban Houston riding stable that houses and trains horses. “The general public doesn’t know what to do to take care of this. We have to keep moving forward because horses and livestock can’t do without it.”

They have already driven about an hour each way to town this week as they struggle to get enough bedding, the wood shavings that line horse stalls.

Extreme weather events such as drought, floods and storms hit farmers hard, especially those with small farms, and scientists expect many of these adverse conditions to worsen due to climate change.

In parts of Texas closer to the coast, there are more individual producers with relatively smaller farms, said Monty Dozier, program director for Texas A&M Agricultural Extension’s Disaster Assessment and Recovery Unit, which monitors farmers after destructive weather events.

Dozier estimates there are between 14,000 and 20,000 head of cattle in the area between Houston and Beaumont alone.

It is usually impossible to evacuate that many livestock before a storm. Sometimes horses or other smaller animals are displaced, but farmers should prepare by moving their herds to higher ground and making sure they have a way to shelter in place.

Catherine Ward, owner of One Acre Farm, which provides youth education and autism therapy about 35 miles from Houston in Porter, Texas, watched the reactions of her 88 animals as wind gusts bent, snapped and toppled trees.

“The goats were able to get into the shed,” Ward said. “Every time I went to the back door to look, they were all like, ‘Mom, please come help us. We don’t know what’s going on.’”

After Beryl died, Ward surveyed the damage, finding a tree had fallen on the roof of the chicken coop and rabbit run, fences broken and metal sheets twisted and thrown to the ground. The farm was without power Friday, and the steady hum of a portable generator filled the air.

In 2019, the Texas Legislature awarded funding to Texas A&M University to create a system for farmers to respond to disasters in line with its recommendations after Hurricane Harvey hit the state in 2017, Dozier said.

Since then, the program’s 26 agents, occasionally supported by other agents from the university’s agricultural extension service, have helped members of the agricultural sector respond to wildfires, tornadoes, floods and other situations across the state. Producers can complete an online damage survey, request additional resources, advice or an in-person visit if they need it.

The Texas A&M response team provides pickup points with pet supplies after storms, but also tries to move quickly once local operators resume operations. It’s also someone’s livelihood, Dozier said.

Chuck Ridder, one of those operators, has owned Knox Drive Farm & Feed for about 20 years and says whenever a situation like this arises, he will open even without power.

“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 flooded. Fortunately, he said, water never entered his warehouse. But Beryl’s high winds damaged one of the warehouse’s metal doors. He had to put the door back in place while the storm was still moving through Porter to make sure rain and wind didn’t damage his feed supply inside the warehouse.

Many Texas farmers are no strangers to severe weather.

“One of my producers told me, ‘If you’re going to farm in Texas, you have to learn how to farm in a continuous drought with floods,’” Dozier said. “That’s the mindset you have to have.”

It’s a difficult reality that means people have to trust each other in difficult times, and many do.

Customers, neighbors and friends walk through Ridder’s doors knowing they’ll likely be able to get what they need even if the power goes out. One of Ridder’s good friends, Tommy Johnson, is a longtime customer who keeps his 14 South African Boer goats in a pen near Ridder’s warehouse.

Ridder said Johnson knows where the key is to open the back door of his business.

“Anytime they need something, just leave a note,” Ridder said.

Ridder said that when he needed a chainsaw to cut down trees that had been cut down around his shop and home, Johnson bought one for him.

“We lean on each other and try to help each other out any way we can,” Johnson said.

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Walling reported from Chicago. Follow her on X: @MelinaWalling.

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