Relentless drought dries up business at feed stores
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The current drought is having devastating effects on the Texas economy, and perhaps no one is feeling it harder than ranchers, farmers and those who sell feed for livestock.
With no grass to graze on, bales of hay and feed pellets are about the only option to keep cattle alive. Those don't come with a cheap price tag.
"A round bale of hay is around 95 dollars. It'll probably last these animals about two or three days," Mike Young, manager of Callahan’s General Store, said.
Normally that would mean good business for a feed store, but the cattle business has been so bad that few cows remain in the area.
"A lot of that feed business is gone so we've had to reinvent our business and do other things," Young said.
Until we see rain again, YNN’s own Dan Robertson says it's hard to tell when this drought will end.
"Right now, we're in what's called ENSO-neutral, the El Nino Southern Oscillation,” he said. “That's the El Nino/ La Nina. Right now we're neutral. We're in the middle of those two types of influences and that doesn't really bode very well."
Most of Central Texas remains in severe to extreme drought. Other parts of the state are experiencing exceptional drought.