HOUSTON — The driest year in Texas history caused a record $7.62 billion in agriculture losses, billions more than previously estimated, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service said Wednesday.
The new total for 2011, provided to The Associated Press before its public release, is about $2.42 billion more than an August estimate that had already topped the 2006 record of $4.1 billion in drought-related losses.
Texas is the nation’s No. 3 producer of agricultural products behind California and Iowa, so when crops and cattle fail in the Lone Star State, prices can be expected to rise nationally, said David Anderson, an agricultural economist at Texas A&M University.
