Young people are leaving farming and ranching and not coming back. It's too harsh. I don't think it'll be the end of it, but it'll sure crush it. Dry land cotton, which is not irrigated and depends on rain is stunted and withering, with only a half inch of rain over the past two months. Cotton has lost money three out of four years.
Farmers depend on disaster relief.
Rodney Brooks and his grandson Jess would be in financial ruin, except for the 100 acres of drip irrigated cotton he also farms. The cotton that depends on rain could be a total loss. Rodney Brooks says economically this is a real serious problem. All of this adds up to a depressing economy in Big Spring. Nationally, you hear nothing but economic good news.