We are in a drought. This has been well documented. And, the farm fields around Lubbock, even the irrigated ones, are not growing anything. Which is why, when the wind blows, there is dust in the air.
As I flew in from Dallas on June 7, 2011, this became starkly, appallingly apparent. Flying over farm fields, they were all brown. The fields in Texas are set up in squares, and many have pivot irrigation systems http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_pivot_irrigation in them. You can tell they have these systems because there is a dark brown circle in the section of land, but nothing was growing.
I am not talking in sporadic places. I am talking about field after field after field, for much of the area over which we flew, coming from Dallas to Lubbock, which is some 330 miles. So for mile after mile after mile, it appears that nothing is growing.
Can you imagine what this means to the farmer whose livelihood is at stake? And, then the consumer: food, cotton, feed for animals. And the economy: In Lubbock, when the cotton crop is good, the economy booms. And, thus it is for many, many other communities in Texas.
This is sad, and frightening. I was asked recently if I thought we were in another Dust Bowl. I said no, unconvincingly, I think, because, while I do not want to be an alarmist, we certainly are experiencing a horrible drought. For it to be a Dust Bowl, this has to happen for more than one season. But, for now, yes, we are experiencing a horrible drought.
Neighbors are not watering, because to have any effect, it requires watering every day. A co-worker, who lives in the country, and has a well has a garden. He tells me he has to water every day. The ground is just sucking up the water, and his plants dry out in the extreme heat.
We are in a drought.
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