Haley uses a similar strategy to protect his herd. “We have a small field of winter wheat behind our headquarters. Maybe 80 acres total,” he says. “But that little bit of ground has saved our headquarters and our livestock. We don’t get a ton of use from it, but it’s been about the best piece of insurance we’ve had.” // The critical consideration, Abraham says, is a lack of fuel — and fences. // “Essentially, we’re just looking for an out-of-the-way place where there’s no fuel,” he says. “That’s what gets all these cows. They get stopped by a fence, and the fire overtakes them. Every cow that’s left behind after a fire like this tells a story. You see where they were when the fire overtook them — where the cow took her last breath. It’s heartbreaking.” And while both Abraham and Haley accept fire as part of the “new normal,” neither are willing to be a passive victim. “Being a helicopter pilot and fighting a lot of fires, I’m always thinking about ‘what if,’” Abraham says. “So when I talk to groups about managing risk and rebuilding after a fire, I ask, ‘If we have to build new fences anyway, why not build a few of these water lots?’” “These grasslands were made from fire, and they’ll continue to burn,” Haley says. “It’s destructive, but we’re used to dealing with challenges and fire is another challenge. We place our livestock where we can get to them easier. We plan our grazing rotations so the cattle are more accessible during February, March and April. We watch the patterns and we act on what we see.” Risk Reduction Through Weed and Brush Control Beyond grazing rotations and water lots, there’s one element critical to minimizing the risk of fire: weed and brush control.
“If you have a lot of invasive species,” Abraham says, “it just gives that much more fuel to the fire. So we use products like Spike 20P herbicide to control the woody species like sagebrush and skunk bushes; those are big contributors to the fuel load.” Proven products such as Sendero ® herbicide help take care of his other big problem species: mesquite. “Sendero gives us a good kill,” he says, “but we’re watching the mesquite we’ve recently treated. Usually, we don’t want to touch that mesquite for three years after treatment; we like to let Sendero do its thing. So we’re anxious to see what effect the fire had on the treated mesquite and on the treatment itself.” ‘Overwhelming’ Community Support In the aftermath of an event like the Panhandle fires of 2024, much of the talk understandably centers around the human, animal and economic losses. But there’s a bright side that touched nearly every rancher and farmer impacted by the fires.
“Once the word got out,” Abraham says, “we couldn’t believe how much hay, feed, money, water, everything just came pouring in. We had every empty barn full of donated items. I don’t know how much hay we received, but it was thousands of semi-loads from as far away as Canadian, Texas. They were bringing me so much hay, we had to turn away loads. It was pretty overwhelming.” Haley remembers a group of ranchers from Nebraska making the 400-mile drive to “Canada” to help rebuild fences. “If people from outside our community could’ve seen the outpouring of support, it would restore their faith in humanity.” Corteva Agriscience supports the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers’ Association Disaster Relief Fund in providing financial assistance to ranchers in Texas and Oklahoma who are victims of a natural disaster. For more information, visit TSCRA.org/disaster-relief-fund/. PHOTOS COURTESY OF JASON ABRAHAM, JOHN HALEY and WAYNE STAMPS
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