As a result of the devastating drought of the 1950s, the number of Texas farms and ranches shrank from 345,000 to 247,000, and the state's rural population declined from more than a third of the population to a quarter. Ranchers and farmers were hit the hardest by the dual threat of water scarcity and the increasing price of feed. The combined income of Texas farmers fell by one fifth from the previous year, and the price of low-grade beef cattle dropped from 15 to 5 cents a pound. In 1940, 29 percent of employed Texans worked on a farm. That number fell to 12 percent in 1960. Crop yields in some areas dropped as much as 50%. Economic losses from 1950 to 1957 were estimated at $22 billion in 2011 dollars.