After wildfires killed seven people and ravaged more than a million acres of rangeland in Kansas, Oklahoma, and the Texas panhandle, ranchers say they aren’t getting the relief they need from the federal government, reports The New York Times.
“Emergency programs run by the federal Department of Agriculture — which is facing 21 percent cuts under Mr. Trump’s budget proposal — will help ranchers, up to a point. One provides up to $200,000 per rancher for replacing burned fences. Another offers up to $125,000 for livestock losses,” said the Times, explaining that for many ranches those numbers don’t begin to cover their costs.
Garth Gardiner, who runs a 48,000-acre Angus beef ranch in Kansas, lost about 500 animals to the fires. “At about $10,000 per mile,” Gardiner told the Times, “new fencing alone may cost his ranch about $2 million. His total losses could reach $5 million to $10 million. Like many ranchers out here, he had insurance on his home and equipment, but said insuring so many livestock and so much fence was impossibly expensive.”
Gardiner, who voted for Trump, says the President should visit the area or at least take time to mention the multi-state disaster in a Tweet. “Two sentences would go a long way,” said Gardiner.
Some local groups and national NGOs have stepped up to help. FARM Aid, for instance, has launched a Family Farm Disaster Fund to help ranchers hit by wildfires.