Travis Meyer – Rancher, Meteorologist – feels the heat of 2012’s disastrous drought

Travis Meyer has a double life. He's the News On 6 Chief Meteorologist at work and a farmer at home. That means Trav gets to deal with the weather as much around the house as he does professionally.

In an exclusive interview, Travis gave us a tour of his farm to show how the current drought conditions are affecting not only his family, but anyone who farms in Oklahoma. “This is really bad” Travis began as we drove through one of his pastures. “Usually this would be knee deep but it looks like a lawnmower has come through here and taken it all, there’s nothing left ” he said, pointing to his field.

You can hear the entire interview with Travis with one click here.

Trav’s cattle were gathered in what was left of a pond south of his house, a pond that is about to go dry. “I’m out of water” he began. “I’ve gotta start trucking in water for these cattle or I have to move ‘em someplace” he commented as we pulled to the edge of what’s left of the watering hole.

Travis understands people are upset by the current conditions for a lot of reasons. Some of us just want our lawns to be green, but others are struggling to make a living off the land. “It’s very frustrating, because you depend on the weather almost all the time” he said. “The weather seems to be on the top of everyone’s list as to what happens to you and it either makes you or breaks you.”

Travis told KRMG the "breaks you" part is becoming too real as the drought begins to drive up basic costs. "The price of corn has gone up about 40% just in the last three weeks because of the drought in the central plains" he noted. "Corn is in almost everything, like the feed grains, that's just going to make it a big issue again and that's just the wrong time for the economy for something like this to happen" he said with a frown.

I asked if there was any good news at all on the horizon ”I’m trying to find some but I’m having a hard time right now” he said, scratching his head. “Then he leaned back in the seat of the Gator we were riding in and said a tropical storm out of the Gulf of Mexico would sure help but could also be dangerous to the coast. “I’m not going to pray for it but I’m sure going to hope there’s some tropical system coming, otherwise, we’re hosed” he finished.

Travis isn’t whining, he likes the challenge of running a farm and he hopes for everyone’s sake things improve soon. But if not, he’ll truck in water, buy more hay if he has to and keep his chin up. After all, the weather is his business, both at work, and at home.