Weatherman Tells Texans to Prepare Drought Plans

US - Texans must be wary of drought patterns and plan accordingly, according to one weather forecaster who addressed a Beef Cattle Course last week.
calendar icon 14 August 2013
clock icon 1 minute read

Texas A&M

Farmers are still in a 1950s drought producing patters with 'period breaks', said Brian Bledsoe, a weather expert to 1,400 attendees at the Texas A&M event.

For this reason, he thinks farmers should have a drought plan because more dry years will come than wet years.

Shorter term, the picture looked typical, which means little rain for the state through August. 

Looking further ahead, Mr Bledsoe said come spring of next year, March through May, could “potentially be wet months.”

He said for now, it will be a drier and warmer-than-normal fall going into early winter, with potential for a possible El Nino trend in early 2014. However, Bledsoe said, “remember, we are still reliving the 1950s drought-producing pattern with periodic breaks.”

The opening general session titled “Ranching Into the Future” featured presentations on weather, cattle market outlook and other industry issues.

Don Close, vice president for food and agriculture research with Rabobank, discussed the outlook for beef demand and trends in protein consumption across the U.S.

He said thinking beyond the traditional mindset of beef consumption, eating habits are changing, especially as cultural diversification among the U.S. population continues. He cited Houston as the most diversified city in the U.S. per ethnic groups and how protein consumption differs compared to decades ago.

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