Because they cannot divine the future, or they would be calling those who need their services.

Nor can anyone else divine the future. For every person who says "I told you so" after the event there are 100 or 1000 or 1,000,000 others who were equally credible in the past, who are now silent.

I can predict that "Something bad will happen". What I'm unable to predict is the precise time and actions I, or others, would need to take to avoid calamity or take profit from the event.

So please, spare us the prophets of doom. Selling fear of loss is easy. What's not easy is planning for the future.

In your case, in South Texas you have two questions:
1. Strategically, is S Texas turning into desert?
2. Tactically, How to survive the current drought?

Focus on the answer to (1). Because, if S Texas is turning into a desert, it might be better to get out ahead of the rush. And becuase you personally don't own the land, then you may be better off managing a farm for others elsewhere. If S Texas is not turning into a desert, then (2) applies, and it's a cash flow problem.

before you spouted off?

For the record, the authors of the fourth turning are not of a religious bent and the only thing they're selling is an academic book that studies repeating patterns of rise and fall similar to the patterns of spring, summer, fall and winter.

Like those seasons, which are highly predictable, there's a rhythm to the rise and fall of economies.

And generations of people are affected by the surroundings and the seasons into which they are born.

I did inhale.

We do own our land. We're not in debt. Because of the drought and the irrigation we have, I'm selling enough hay to pay the bills. In fact I hired an additional man last week.

We are on the edge of a desert and it appears to be creeping in our direction. But I was raised in the desert and I don't plan to leave.

I wouldn't trade where I am or what I do for a living with anybody on this planet.

Yes, it's tough. But I was made for this.

I did inhale.

Deserts are tough. So I believe are you. I lived in the Sahel and watched the Sahara expand southward.

Irrigating deserts can increase soil salt content because there is a lack of rain leaching out the salts dissolved in the artesian water. How's you aquifer replenishment? Measured by the long term aquifer water levels?

And yes I did read the link.

I've been exposed to authors marketing books proclaiming imminent downfall for over 30 years.

It's the the "fear of loss" marketing tactic, so well misused by our corporation and fearless leaders:
-Sale ends tomorrow.
-Few left at this price.
-Call to buy as offer expires in 30 minutes
-The commies Will get you so we need 50,000 nuclear weapons and a 600 ship navy.
-If we don't invade _____ (fill in the blank) the American way of life will end at noon tomorrow.
-If we don't throw all drug users in jail -- those who did not buy. from big pharma -- civilization as we know it will end.

Manipulation and exploitation, especially by those who proclaim to predict the future.

We're in trouble. But I am not selling anything. I'm just hoping a few people out there will prepare to take care of themselves when the government no longer can or will.

The area where I live is east of the dividing line that runs from south and west to north and east, roughly paralleling the Texas coast line. East of this line we expect on the order of 30 inches of rainfall a year--to the west--in far West Texas (my childhood home) we get about 10 inches a year.

The Bakersfield valley (where I once operated a large irrigated farm) did salt out from overirrigation. Long before salt became a problem however, the cost of lifting water became prohibitive and the area has largely been abandoned.

Where I now live there is no large scale irrigation. The aquifer is small, highly rechargable, but dependant on rainfall and really suitable only for supplemental irrigation.

There are only a couple of farmers in the region irrigating crops. Surrounding cities will one day demand this water and they'll probably get it (got to keep those lawns and golf courses green).

The density of cattle per acre in these parts is high, but this condition is dependant on rain and the chemical inputs we apply; fertilizer, herbicides and sometimes insecticides. Ranchers must first be grass farmers, though many would be loathe to admit it.

On a good place and a good year, 3 or 4 acres of land is capable of supporting a cow/calf unit. Out in far west Texas, in a good year, they run 10 head of cattle to a section of land (640 acres). There haven't been many good years of late and most ranches now only run 5 units to a section of land (130 acres to support one cow).

If weather patterns continue in the direction they are headed, I envision about 2/3 of the cattle permanently gone, greatly reduced crop yields, etc. We're about halfway there right now.

If there's any interruption in the supply of electricity that supplies air conditioning to this region, people are going to wake up to the hostile nature of the land where they live.

A lot of them will leave.

I expect we'll see mass migrations of people and I don't dimiss the possibility that I could be one of those forced to leave. But I'm planning to fight the fight as long as I can.

We had a horrible drought in the 30's, another in the 50's, and apparently we're in the midst of another. Many people abandoned farms and ranches during those hard times, but some stayed.

I'll not forget Timothy Egan's The Worst Hard Time, chronicling the dust bowl era. Truly a modern day horror story. Makes Stephen King's novels seem tame.

I don't have to issue new propecies: all I have to do is look out my window to see fulfillment of prophecies made long ago. War, famine, pestilence and death.

So far, we in the US have been lucky.

Luck has limits.

I did inhale.

... based on Absorption heat pump design should hit the market within the next 5 years. Much cheaper than photovoltaics. Nevertheless given the current economic outlook in your area I am not sure how many people will be able to afford them.

I'd rather have the milo than money.

I did inhale.

eom
Distrust anyone who wants to teach you something.

grain sorghum. Primarily grown as animal feed--the grain for seed, the stalks and leaves for fodder. The seed is small, round, and reddish brown to purple.

However, it can be consumed by humans. I learned only a year or so ago that I have celiac disorder (wheat intolerance). I am told that eating grain from sorghum has healing benefits for those that suffer this affliction.

For what it's worth, an estimated 1% of the population has celiac but only 3 out of a hundred that do have this intolerance know it (meaning 97 out of a hundred don't).

If you have digestive problems--acid reflux disease--you should probably get checked out--or at least try a totally wheat, barley and rye-free diet for a time to see if the condition improves.

I did inhale.

...your answer was excellent and very helpful. Sorghum I've heard of, but why do they call it milo? Curiosity is my life. :)

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