Larry Winkelmann has never seen flooding like he has seen this spring. The 68-year-old cow/calf producer from Burton, Texas, located halfway between Houston and Austin, saw about 400 acres of his grassland under water earlier this month. Flooding has been an issue in the region for several months now. Corrie Bowen, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agent for Wharton County, said heavy rains in mid-April caused the Colorado and San Bernard Rivers in his county to flow out of their banks.
Crops along those rivers were destroyed and livestock in these areas had to be moved. Wharton Livestock Auction Barn provided their facility as a large animal shelter for horse and cattle owners needing a place to relocate their animals out of potentially flooded areas, he said. Then another roughly 20 inches of rain fell in the Brenham area around Memorial Day, which flooded the Brazos River and created flooding downstream into Fort Bend and Brazoria counties. Brazoria County just began staging down livestock relief efforts in late June, he said.