Property damage from 16 western Oklahoma wildfires that started in February and continued into March is expected to cost more than double the price of the Louisiana Purchase, according to the Oklahoma State University Extension Service.
The OSU Extension recently released data on the fires’ impact on land, cattle and infrastructure. It has more specific data for losses in Beaver, Ellis and Roger Mills counties and estimates preliminary losses in Texas, Harper, Woods and Custer counties combined.
The region is being hit by fires again, though the ultimate destruction of this week's blazes remain unclear.
Extension specialists and members of the Disaster Assistance Response Team estimate over 152,000 acres burned and $32.9 million in total property damage from the spate of western Oklahoma fires earlier in the year. That amounts to roughly $215 dollars per acre.
One of the largest cost categories is for fencing.
Amy Hagerman, an agriculture and food policy OSU extension specialist, said Ellis County had the highest number of acres burned and about $6.7 million in expected fencing costs.
“Cattle producer losses are estimated at $5.8 million in Ellis County for recovery costs, and this doesn’t include cattle that died in the fires or had to be sold at a loss on the market,” Hagerman said. “A total of 674 head of cattle perished, and 15,000 were estimated to have been displaced and had to be fed.”
In all, extension specialists estimate about 430 miles of fences are lost and nearly 275 miles of fencing are in need of repairs in Beaver, Custer, Ellis, Harper, Roger Mills, Texas and Woods counties.
Thousands of cattle have died in Texas wildfires and according to the extension, almost 1,200 cattle are dead and more than 16,000 are displaced in Oklahoma. But experts have said the fires should not impact beef prices.
Derrell Peel, OSU livestock marketing specialist, said lasting impacts on livestock prices are not expected but the situation might worsen the low availability of replacement heifers.
The extension encourages those affected by western Oklahoma wildfires to apply for U.S. Department of Agriculture recovery assistance.
