• Another part of my Louisiana education: drought. I...

Another part of my Louisiana education: drought. I never considered that the land of lazy rivers, miles of marshland and seasonal hurricane deluges could ever suffer from drought. But this is a reality for many farmers and ranchers in this part of the country. While Mr. Neil claims that much of problems could be solved by redirecting parish-owned water resources to run through his land, it is apparent that the land he owns is changing due to rainfall levels severely below past averages.

The grass is lower or non-existant. The cows then gravitate towards open water, which causes them to lose protein in their diet. The rancher now has to feed them protein supplements separately. Then, the water that the cows gravitate towards is found in the open irrigation ditches, BUT these ditches have since dried up because of the lack of rainfall. This creates a mud that the cows becomes stuck in. Read more:

On Herdis Neil’s farm, the land is so dry that livestock consistently wander into the drainage ditch in search of water at the bottom and get stuck there.

Tuesday evening, Neil found a calf stuck up to its belly on the muddy banks. The cow was small enough that he could pull it out by its neck. Others have required a tractor to lift them out of the ditch. Neil has lost at least two dozen this year, including a 3-year-old bull worth $1,500.

The National Weather Service’s station in Galliano recorded 48.83 inches of rain last year. The annual average is 63.99 inches. On Dec. 27, the service classified the Houma-Thibodaux-Galliano area as being in a “severe drought.”

Article by Cara Bayles on houmatoday.com.