VOA慢速英语: 长期干旱影响美国南部农户（双语）

Long Drought Affects Farmers in Southwestern US
长期干旱影响美国南部农户
Parts of the southwestern American states of Texas and Oklahoma have experienced severe dry weather for several years. This drought has affected the growth of cotton and grains. The governor of Oklahoma says the state has suffered two billion dollars in agricultural losses since 2011. Some heavy rain fell recently, but for most farmers it did not come soon enough.
美国德克萨斯州西南部很多地区多年一直遭受严重干旱。干旱影响到棉花和谷物的生长。德克萨斯州的州长发表讲话说该州自2011年以来农业遭受20亿美元损失。近来下了几场大雨，但是对多数农户来说雨来的还是有点晚。
Matt Muller is a farmer in southwestern Oklahoma.
马特·穆勒是德克萨斯州西南部的一个农场主。
“We were doing very well farming until about 2010, the fall of 2010 (when) it basically stopped raining, and for the past four years we've been in continuous drought.”
“2010年以前，农耕情况一直不错，但到2010年秋天基本上就不下雨了，过去四年一直持续干旱。”
Mr. Muller was hopeful earlier in the year. Spring was cool and wet, and summer came early. But that hope went away when the rains did not come.
穆勒今年早些时候还充满希望。春天又冷又湿，而且夏天来的早，但是雨一直没有来，他的希望破灭。
“Things looked phenomenal because of the mild weather and the showers we were able to catch, but then August 1st, it's like a blowtorch showed up.”
“因为气候温和，我们能够赶上下一场阵雨，但是形势异常，8月1号后，就像是有喷灯照耀一样干旱。”
High temperatures and lack of rain meant most crops did not grow. But that was not the case with mung beans. Mr. Muller says that crop did well because it can grow even when there is not much rain.
高温、少雨的天气，非常不利于谷物生长，但是对绿豆生长来说却没什么影响。穆勒说即使没有降很多雨，绿豆仍然能长的很好。
“When it started rain(ing), we jumped in and tried that crop and it was able to beat the heat of August and finish out and make a decent crop before it burned up in August.”
“什么时候开始下雨，我们就迅速采取行动。这种作物能够抵抗八月的高温，然后成熟，在八月烧焦之前，我们收获绿豆。”
Those kinds of crops help farmers survive. Irrigation can also help farms. Irrigation systems use water from underground when there is not enough rain. But crops like cotton are more valuable than mung beans, and it is those kinds of crops that are being hurt by the drought.
这类的作物能让农场主免遭一些损失，灌溉也会起到帮助作用。降水不足时，需要使用从地下抽水的灌溉系统。但是像棉花之类的谷物比绿豆价值要高，也正是这类价值高的作物总是因为干旱受损。
Clint Abernathy is a cotton farmer. He has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for machines to help him harvest his crop. He says he has not grown as much cotton in the past few years as he predicted.
克林特·艾伯纳西是个棉花农场主。他已经支付了数百万美元，让机器帮他收获作物。他表示过去几年种植的棉花没有他预期的多。
“This year we did have enough rain in June and July to, to grow a crop that, that looks better -- it's, it's and it is better -- but this is ground that we normally would want to make three-bale-an-acre-plus on, and right now we're looking at probably a half to three-quarter (of a bale) cotton crop.”
“今年六七月份时候降雨比较充足，作物长势不错，——看着越来越好，但是我们通常想一英亩打包三捆，现在我们看到的也许是一捆棉花的一半到四分之三。”
Mr. Abernathy says before drought struck the area, he grew much bigger plants, and each had more cotton on them.
艾伯纳西说这个地区陷入干旱之前，他种植了一些大叶植物，种植了不少棉花。
“This is a stressed plant that did not produce what, what it had the potential to do.”
“这是是受压的作物，就无法产出预期产量。”
He says insurance has helped provide money when his crops fail. But he says what farmers really need is more water and better prices for what they grow.
他说当作物收成受损时，保险公司会给他提供资金。但是农场主真正需要的是更多的水，以及他们种植的东西能卖个好价钱。
“Even with crop insurance we're still, we're goin' downhill, you know. Our, our insurance yields just keep goin' down every year. Prices of commodities – all commodities except livestock -- they just keep goin' down.”
“尽管有作物保险，但是我们仍然走下坡路。我们的产量保险数目每年都在下降。商品的价格——除了牲畜价格之外，都在下降。”
Livestock prices dropped a few years ago. That is when the drought forced many ranchers to sell their livestock. But few farmers in the area have anything left to sell now, and that hurts the local economy. So farmers in southwestern Oklahoma are doing what farmers throughout the world havedone for centuries: they are hoping for a better year, next year.
牲畜的价钱几年前下降过。因为干旱，迫使跟多农场主卖掉他们的牲畜。现在几乎没有农场主有什么牲畜可卖了，这损害了当地的经济。因此，德克萨斯州西南部的农场主正在做全世界农民数百年来做的事：他们希望来年更好。
I’m Caty Weaver.
我是凯蒂·威尔。