North Texans rally to help ranchers feed starving cattle in wildfire-stricken panhandle
WOLFE CITY, Texas - With livelihoods at stake, North Texans are stepping up to help ranchers affected by the deadly panhandle wildfires.
About 65 tons of feed has been collected and will be shipped off in big rigs to the panhandle. All of it is for the thousands of heads of cattle that survived the fires but are starving.
There are many organizations helping ranchers rebound as well as a group of strangers from North Texas who have bonded over a common goal.
Inside Russell Iron Works Shop in Hunt County, owner Jeremy Russell is working with a different kind of material than he's used to.
"A lot of feed. We have 130,000 pounds of feed here. I think it’s about $23,000 worth," he said.
The 65 tons of feed is bound for the Texas Panhandle where the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest recorded wildfire in state history, burned more than one million acres.
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Fire officials are worried that dryer conditions in the Panhandle could lead to new wildfires in the region.
"I don’t have much. I just started my business, but I have a truck and a trailer. I have time," Russell said. "So what better way to help out."
Russell and a couple dozen other Texans will transport the feed on 15 trailers and two semi-trucks to ranchers desperate for help.
Harlan Smith is along for the ride. He first met Russell two weeks ago when the men joined other like-minded strangers to deliver approximately 400 bales of hay to the scorched region. He couldn't believe the need and the response to their journey.
"I’ve even been contacted by people as far as Illinois that brought things down," he said.
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The feed will be dropped off directly on the ranchers' land to make it easily accessible.
According to the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Texas Panhandle — known as "cattle country" — is home to 11 million head of cattle. That’s 85% of the state's population.
Early estimates show more than 7,000 head of cattle died in the fire.
The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association said many of the livestock that were killed were cows with their calves or pregnant cows, and the ones that survived are hungry.
"If Texans, they need help, we’re going to help. And it’s just being there for the people," Russell said. "They can’t do it themselves because their vehicles are burnt up. Their trailers are burnt up. They can’t get what they need."
"The big challenge I put out there to everyone is just step up and help," Smith said. "It’s just a community support. That’s what it’s all about."
The group will be working late into the night loading all of the feed onto the trucks and trailers. Each one had to be individually wrapped to protect it from the rain. They leave from Wolfe City first thing Saturday morning.