JOHNSON CITY, Texas — The road that leads to the Bamberger Ranch in Central Texas is flanked on both sides by acres of yellow, scorched land, as if wildfires mauled them. Once-bustling creeks are stone-dry. Large ponds, once ringed by sipping heifers, are empty.
The drought parching several areas of the U.S. is most pronounced in the heart of Texas cattle country. High temperatures and lack of rainfall the past 18 months have decimated grass needed for grazing and forced ranchers to sell off herds of cattle.
David Bamberger, proprietor of the Bamberger Ranch, sold 165 of his 225 mother cows in the past two years. If rain doesn't fall soon, he'll need to sell more.
"I'm 80 years old, and it's the worst I've seen in my lifetime," Bamberger said.
Cattle ranchers across Texas have been taking drastic steps to save their herds — and their livelihoods — from one of the worst droughts in state history.
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