FORD COUNTY, Kan. (KSNW) — Fires across several states are stretching resources thin for fire departments and compelling farmers and ranchers to help fight fires.

AgriLife Extension Agent Andy Holloway said she estimates 5,000 head of cattle may have been killed in the Smokehouse Creek Fire in Texas.

Earlier this week, a farmer in Ford County lost several livestock. Two experts in Kansas, said it takes a huge toll on farmers.

There’s little farmers can do to safeguard their livelihood against the flames.

“There really is no fail-safe way to prepare for instances like this, once a wildfire gets started,” said KSN AG Analyst, John Jenkinson.

Jenkinson compared the Smokehouse Creek Fire, burning in North Texas, to the 2017 Ashland Fire in Kansas. He said the size of the fire can be detrimental to a farmer’s mental health and pocket book.

“Each head of cattle is worth well over a thousand dollars, so if you have 100 head in a pasture, you can certainly see how quickly that can add up, and it’s just a completely devastating loss,” said Jenkinson.

A fire this week, sparked by burning trash, spread to a farmer’s building in Ford County. An Extension Agricultural Agent, Andrea Burns, said the goad and calves inside had no way to escape.

“He has some livestock losses and what did survive has some damage, some of them they had to put down, some of them are in pretty rough shape,” said Burns.

Burns said farmers can cut the fences, to try and let livestock out-run the fire, but they need to have ways to track them back down.

“That’s why farmers brand, that’s why they have air tags, that’s why farmers have a way of keeping track of their animals,” said Burns.

Jenkinson said farmers in Texas will be looking to relocate cattle soon, to pastures not effected by fires.

“Farmers and ranchers always have each other’s backs and, so the minute there is a need, farmers and ranchers will gladly open their doors and their gates for people that are looking for homes for their cattle,” said Jenkinson.

Cattle will likely end up in Oklahoma, where pastures are already green, before eventually making it to farm land in Kansas.

Insurance provides some monetary relief, but farmers are still responsible for cleanup, including fixing fences and digging mass graves for livestock that have died.

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