From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
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.
美国西南部的德克萨斯州和俄克拉荷马州的部分地区已经经历了数年的严重干旱天气。旱灾已经影响到了棉花和谷物的生长。俄克拉何马州州长表示，自2011年以来，该州已经遭受了20亿美元的农业损失。最近下了几场大雨，但对大多数农民来说，大雨来得不够早。
Matt Muller is a farmer in southwestern Oklahoma.
马特·穆勒（Matt Muller）是俄克拉荷马州西南部的农民。
俄克拉荷马州遭受严重干旱
"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."
他说，“在大约2010年以前我们农场经营得很好。2010年秋天基本上停止了下雨，而且过去四年我们一直处于持续干旱中。”
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.
今年早些时候穆勒先生还抱有希望。春天凉爽潮湿，夏天早早就来了。但雨季没有来，希望又破灭了。
"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."
他说，“事情看起来很惊人。因为我们赶上了温和天气和阵雨。但到了8月1日，烈日骄阳来了。”
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.
高温少雨意味着大多数作物无法生长，但绿豆不是这样。穆勒先生说，绿豆长势很好，因为它可以在少雨环境下生长。
"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."
“当开始下雨时，我们种下了绿豆，它能够打败8月的酷热，在被晒死前就收获。”
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.
这类作物帮助农民逃过一劫。灌溉设施也能帮助农场。当雨水不足时，灌溉系统会使用地下水。但棉花一类的作物比绿豆更值钱，这类作物受到了干旱的打击。
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·阿伯内西（Clint Abernathy）是一位棉农。他花了数十万美元购买了帮助他收割棉花的机器。他说，过去数年他都未能种出他所预计的那么多棉花。
"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."
“今年六到七月我们有足够雨水种植作物，这看起来很美好。但这块地通常每英亩我们想要收获3大捆棉花，而现在我们可能只能收获1/2到3/4捆棉花。”
Mr. Abernathy says before drought struck the area, he grew much bigger plants, and each had more cotton on them.
阿伯内西先生表示，在干旱袭击该地区之前，他种植了更多的作物，每株都结了很多棉花。
"This is a stressed plant that did not produce what, what it had the potential to do."
“这株作物承受了干旱的压力，未能发挥出它的潜力。”
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.
他说当作物歉收时，保险业帮助提供了资金。但他表示，农民们在种植作物上真正需要的是更多水和更好的价格。
"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."
“即使有农作物保险我们也在走下坡路。我们的保险收益率每年都在下降。除了牲畜以外所有商品的价格都在下降。”
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 have done for centuries: they are hoping for a better year, next year.
牲畜价格几年前有所下降。当时的干旱迫使许多牧场主卖掉了他们的牲畜。但目前该地区尚有东西可买的农民寥寥无几，这伤害了当地经济。所以俄克拉何马州西南部的农民开始像全世界各地的农民几百年来所做的一样，开始期待明年有个好收成。”
And that's the VOA Learning English Agriculture Report. I'm Caty Weaver.
以上就是本期美国之音慢速英语农业报道的全部内容。我是卡蒂·韦弗（Caty Weaver）。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)