Record-breaking temperatures and a lack of rainfall have done major damage to crops all over Texas.
“It’s an exceptionally devastating impact,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples told Action 4 News. “It's threatening the survivability of farming and ranching families.”
A $3.6 billion dollar loss has been estimated so far this year but the number is fast approaching $4 billion.
The Rio Grande Valley is experiencing the worst, most extreme drought conditions in the state with less than 4 inches of rain in places like Willacy County.
The drought has been slowly getting worse and now has left producers in a bad situation.
“It’s really rough on producers the last four years,” said Luis Rivera with the Texas Department of Agriculture.
The dry conditions are having a tremendous effect on farmers with a total loss of about $600 million dollars which directly impacts producers, primarily dry land growers who produce cotton, corn and sorghum.
The drought isn’t just affecting agricultural operations but affecting all of Valley residents as a whole.
“The problem that I see is that we don’t get rain then the levels of the reservoir is going down and then we’ll have a serious problem," said Rivera.
The Texas Department of Agriculture has set up a relief program for farmers and ranchers that should take effect the last week of September.
If you would like more information on those programs, click here.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT