FARMERS in the us are having a hard time as they have lost million of dollars following a catastrophic drought. According to reports, the blistering heat has killed more than 130 people across the southern parts of the us. The heat wave shows no sign of abating and the impact on the regional economy is an unmitigated disaster. The worst hit are the states of Texas, the country's top cattle state, which already experienced a terrible drought in 1996, and Oklahoma. Officials estimate the combined drought-related losses in the two states at nearly us $7 billion.
Keith Collins, chief economist at the us department of agriculture said that the drought is also wreaking havoc in several other southern states, including New Mexico, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Louisiana.Gene Hall of the Texas Farm Bureau in Waco, said: "The situation is grim. This had happened in 1996 too. This time I fear a lot of farmers will call it quits." In such a situation, he said, bankers will have to deal with the situation patiently. The Texas agriculture department estimates that ranchers and farmers, particularly cotton producers, already have lost close to us $1.5 billion.
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