This story originally appeared at the Texas Tribune. It is republished here with permission.
Lloyd Arthur can run his hand through the soil at his cotton farm and know what kind of year he’s going to have. His dry, cracked field is making him think this could be a repeat of one of the state’s worst years.
“We can’t outfox what Mother Nature sends us,” said Arthur, whose farm is about 30 miles outside of Lubbock. “2022 has been one for the record books. We’ve always compared years to 2011, as far as droughts and whatnot, but 2022 is worse. We don’t have any underground moisture.”
According to the United States Drought Monitor, more than 80 percent of Texas has been facing drought conditions most of the year, and some areas for much longer. Prolonged drought can lead to crop loss, heat stress, and limited feed availability for livestock, as well as increased risk of wildfires.
The drought has been affecting West Texas since last August. There has been some ... Read more
