Phillip and Doris Smith have owned and operated the Sunrise Ranch in the Texas panhandle for half a century. The farm has been in Doris's family since 1906. They've seen plenty of dry years before, they say, but the drought that has burned across the high plains for the last two years, killing their crops and threatening their herds, is different. "We've never seen anything like this before," says Doris.
Roberto Rodriguez for The Daily Beast









