By Lee Wells/Contributing writer On March 13, 2024, I loaded my flatbed trailer with as much feed as it could carry and headed to the Texas Panhandle.

The Smokehouse Creek fire had become the largest wildfire in Texas history, and thousands of cattle had died.

Over two days, I sat at kitchen tables and walked through burned-out barns with ranchers who had lost their herds, their fences, and at least a year of income.