‘Desperate times’ for N.M. ranchers
Cattle near the headquarters of the Double V Ranch near Fort Sumner where Livestock Board officials reportedly found an estimated 1,000 malnourished cattle. (Greg Sorber/Journal)
Brown land on the 180,000-acre Double V Ranch near Fort Sumner shows the effects of prolonged drought and a lack of green grass to feed an estimated 1,000 cattle on the ranch. (Greg Sorber/Journal)
Rangeland surrounding the headquarters of the Double V Ranch shows an absence of green grass for cattle fodder. (Greg Sorber/Journal)
New Mexico Livestock Board officials delivered loads of hay to the Double V Ranch near Fort Sumner on Saturday. (Courtesy state livestock Board)
The range land around the Double V Ranch headquarters is devoid of grass on Thursday, May 23, 2013. (Greg Sorber/Journal)
Cattle near the headquarter building at the Double V Ranch south of Ft. Stanton on Thursday, May 23, 2013. An estimated 1,000 cattle on the drought stricken ranch have become so emaciated that state and law enforcement officials are deciding whether to seize the herd and charge the owner with cruelty to animals. (Greg Sorber/Journal)
Cattle near the headquarter building at the Double V Ranch south of Ft. Stanton on Thursday, May 23, 2013. An estimated 1,000 cattle on the drought stricken ranch have become so emaciated that state and law enforcement officials are deciding whether to seize the herd and charge the owner with cruelty to animals. (Greg Sorber/Journal)
The range land of eastern New Mexico, which is usually green with grass, is a vast plain of brown on Thursday, May 23, 2013. (Greg Sorber/Journal)
Cattle near the headquarters of the Double V Ranch near Fort Sumner where Livestock Board officials reportedly found an estimated 1,000 malnourished cattle. (Greg Sorber/Journal)
The view of eastern New Mexico from the air this year is a vast, brown expanse from horizon to horizon that looks a bit like a moonscape.
Green grass needed to feed cattle is virtually absent throughout much of New Mexico, forcing ranchers to drastically cut the size of their herds, officials and ranchers say.
“I don’t think there’s any green, other than lawns, in that whole eastern New Mexico area,” said Jerry Wertheim, whose family has ranched in the Fort Sumner area since the 1930s.
“At this point, it looks like it’s going to rival the very dry 50s,” said Wertheim, who graduated from Fort Sumner High School in 1956.
“I know ranchers that are getting rid of all of their cattle where they never did before,” Wertheim said. “It’s a difficult decision for a rancher.”
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