Sideoats grama, buffalo grass and other native forages thrived in late June as generous, above-normal rainfall blessed the northeast Texas Panhandle. Cattle were sometimes knee-deep in Mother Nature’s fodder. To ranchers like David Cook, the premier pastures answered their many prayers after disaster struck in early 2024.
Cook’s third-generation ranch was among hundreds of operations engulfed by wildfires that charred more than a million Panhandle acres in February and March last year. In the mammoth Smokehouse Fire, more than 15,000 mother cows and other cattle died in the roaring inferno whipped by winds surging past 60 mph. Many producers and their families lost their homes, barns, shops and other structures.
By the grace of God, Cook and his wife, Sandie, lost only one cow and her calf. Their home and other structures about 27 miles southeast of Canadian also escaped the firestorm. “We were out of town in Amarillo when the fire hit our area,” David remembers. “My son, Jim David, managed to get to the house from Amarillo to turn on our sprinkler system around the house. He had to maneuver around Wheeler and Allison to get there.”…