Sometimes there’s a drought. The gods listened to pre-schoolers singing, "Rain, rain, go away..."
Droughts make life tough for farmers and puddle-jumpers...sometimes so tough that they have to sell more livestock than had there not been a drought.
When farmers are forced to sell extra livestock from the result of a drought, it’s called a drought sale. Actually, as far as the U.S. tax code is concerned, a drought sale doesn’t just apply to droughts, but to other catastrophic events that affect farmers and their livelihood, like a disease breakout or wildfire.
When a farmer has a drought sale, the U.S. government eases up on the farmer’s taxes in myriad ways to help the farmer get back on their feet. Lately, climate change has been kicking in, resulting in more droughts and acts of God than usual, which means more drought sales. But hey, at least it also means less in taxes...for farmers who aren’t doing so hot. Or are too hot. Much, much too hot.