Sen. Ted Cruz, Rep. Ronny Jackson Push Bill to Help Ranchers Devastated by Texas Wildfires

Smoke billows over a road during the Smokehouse Creek Fire in the Texas panhandle on Feb. 27, 2024. Texas A&M Forest Service via Getty Images

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) are pushing legislation to deliver additional financial help to ranchers who lost excessive numbers of unborn livestock in a disaster. The bill could assist those in the Texas Panhandle who are working to recover from wildfires that killed at least 15,000 head of cattle, including pregnant cows, earlier this year.

The bill, dubbed the Livestock Indemnity Program Enhancement Act of 2024, would establish additional payments for excessive deaths of unborn livestock under the current indemnity program in the 2018 Farm Bill (pdf).

“Texas ranchers are the backbone of the Texas Agriculture industry,” Mr. Cruz said in a statement. “This will give Texas cattle producers the relief they need to build back their herds and restore this pillar of Texas agriculture.”

The indemnity program is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency, and payments are based on national rates, typically 75 percent of the market value of the livestock, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture. It does not cover the death of unborn animals, such as those killed in the devastating wildfires that burned across more than 1.5 million acres in the Panhandle region earlier this year.

“Due to recent devastating wildfires, many cattle producers have suffered livestock losses, including the loss of unborn calves,” said Allison Rivera, executive director of government affairs at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, in a statement. “Current federal law fails to compensate producers for unborn calves, but this legislation would change that thanks to Sen. Cruz and Rep. Ronny Jackson’s bill to provide an additional payment rate for unborn calves as part of the Livestock Indemnity Program.”

If enacted, the measure would be retroactive for losses incurred on or after Jan. 1, 2024.

How it Works

The proposed measure would add a payment for ranchers and farmers for unborn livestock deaths under the current indemnity program. Payments would be capped at “85 percent of the payment rate established with respect to the lowest weight class of the livestock, as determined by the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Farm Service Agency.”

The type of livestock and average number of babies the animal typically gives birth to would also be considered in determining the payment.

Texas Farm Bureau President Russell Boening said there is a “critical” need for assistance in the Panhandle.

“As Texas farmers and ranchers continue working to recover from devastating wildfires, it is critical to provide as much assistance and flexibility as possible to help them get back on their feet,” he said.

Recovery in the Panhandle is expected to take years, but the enhancement program could be an important step in helping to speed the recovery.

“While the Livestock Indemnity Program will assist affected livestock producers with cattle losses due to the wildfires, their recovery has been set back several years due to the limitations on the program’s ability to compensate for unborn livestock losses from the loss of pregnant livestock,” Mr. Jackson said in a statement. “By creating a payment rate for unborn livestock losses, we can better assist our producers, helping them recover quicker and mitigating the long-term effects of these wildfires.”

Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association President Carl Ray Polk said the effects of the “calf crop gap” in the current program are “particularly glaring in the wake of the recent wildfires.”

Devastating Losses

Last month, a Texas House Committee tasked with investigating the panhandle wildfires estimated cattle losses of $27 million. (pdf)

In Hemphill County, which suffered the greatest devastation, 7,000 of the 23,000 in the county died as a result of the fires, and an “estimated 15 to 20 percent of the remaining cows will likely be harvested due to burned hooves, udders, and body parts,” the committee wrote. 

The findings also estimated the cow-calf pairs were valued as high as $3,000 in April, with “calves in the 500-600 pound range selling for $3.14 per pound and bulls at $10,000.”

According to the report, “Livestock losses extend beyond the death of any one animal or herd. ”Within their cells, these cattle carried DNA reflecting generations of genetic development fostered by Panhandle ranchers, much of which has been lost.”

The committee also noted that it could take three to five years for pastures to be suitable for grazing livestock.