The Texas Cattle Feeders’ Association has confirmed that the total number of cattle lost in flooding at the Circle Three Feed Yard in Castro County, Texas, amounts to 4,000 head.
According to new sources, both the TCFA and Circle Three worked alongside the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to dispose of the carcasses and debris in compliance with TCEQ guidelines.
The TCFA will continue to work alongside Circle Three to care for the remaining cattle. The Red Cross also stepped in to help over 150 families evacuated from the area.
The update comes after massive, 100-year floods hit swept through Hereford, Texas, last month, inundating the town and its surroundings and impacting local farms and feedlots. The storms brought powerful rains and hail, leaving homes, cars, and livestock pens underwater.
In total, during Memorial Day weekend and beginning on May 26, the area experienced eight to 11 inches of rain in only a few short hours. The Panhandle of Texas has an average rainfall of 15 to 25 inches annually, so flooding in this area is not common.
Hereford, Texas, is known as the “Beef Capital of the World” and feeds over 1 million head of cattle each year, so it’s no surprise that feedlots were impacted during the rainstorms. Dairy cattle in the area are also responsible for producing over 1 billion pounds of milk annually. Other agricultural losses have not been accounted after the flooding yet.
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