Winter Storm Goliath packed a powerful punch to the heart of the Texas dairy industry that will be felt well into the future, from a reduction in the state's milk supply to dairy financial losses to the emotional impact on farmers of losing their animals, according to Darren Turley, executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen.
"Like all agriculture, dairy producers always operate at the mercy of Mother Nature," Turley said. "With Goliath, she dealt a particularly harsh and costly blow to the area's dairy producers, from the death of thousands of livestock they spend so much time caring for to a loss of milk production both over the weekend and in the future."
It wasn't until Tuesday that many dairy producers in the primary impact area – from Lubbock west to Muleshoe and north to Friona (roughly areas south of Interstate 40) – were able to safely walk among their cows and survey the situation, said Turley, who has talked to many of the producers in the region.
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