Wilting Panhandle thirsts for rainfall

The state secretary of agriculture asked the governor Wednesday afternoon to start the process of classifying the Oklahoma Panhandle as a disaster area because of an extreme drought, said Jack Carson, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture.

Carson said state Agriculture Secretary Terry Peach took a letter to Gov. Brad Henry making the request. Carson declined to release the letter on Wednesday.

Crops are failing in the western Panhandle, and farmers are running out of grass to feed their cattle, residents said. One resident said the area is starting to look like the Sahara Desert.

A disaster declaration would have to come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Carson said, and the governor would need to recommend the declaration to that agency.

The designation could bring help in the form of low-interest loans and tax relief, which would help farmers and ranchers buy feed, replace failed crops and buy back livestock they have to sell, Carson said. Even if approved, the aid may not come soon.

"It's a slow process, let's just be honest,” he said. "We're talking in terms of months.”

A conservation official in Cimarron County, at the western edge of the Panhandle, said he wants state officials to visit the area so they can get an idea of how intense the drought is. Hal Clark, chairman of the conservation district, said some farmers in Cimarron County are selling off all of their livestock because they can't afford to feed them.

Derek Arndt, assistant state climatologist, said the coming weeks will be "make or break” for farmers and ranchers in the western Panhandle.

To date, this is the third-driest year on record for the Panhandle, he said.

Recent triple-digit temperatures have increasing soil evaporation and added to the dire situation, he said.

The U.S. Drought Monitor has labeled the drought "extreme” — the second most severe designation.

There's no chance of rain in the Panhandle for at least a week, said J.J. Brost, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Amarillo, Texas.