Story highlights Floods from Harvey threatened more than a million cows when water covered their grazing land

One farmer resorted to a modern-day cattle driving and herding by airboat to save his cattle

(CNN) Seventh-generation cattle rancher Brandon Cutrer watched as floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey began to rise, threatening to engulf his family farm.

The deadly storm that turned Houston streets into rivers was also transforming vast swathes of grazing land into lakes, destroying crops and stranding countless cattle across southeastern Texas.

Cutrer's family has 2,000 cattle in Brazoria County, about 45 miles southwest of Houston. The animals are among about 1.2 million beef cows that the US Department of Agriculture says are farmed in the 58 counties -- nearly a fourth of Texas' 254 counties -- that Gov. Greg Abbott declared state disaster areas in Harvey's aftermath.

Texas state Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller told CNN his agency has no firm estimate on the number of cattle lost during the storm and floods that followed. But he estimates that crops worth $200 million were destroyed -- and he expects that number to climb.

Known for his prize-winning Brahman cattle, Cutrer crossbreeds animals and supplies his bulls' semen to cattle breeders around the world.

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