The Texas Agricultural Extension Service said it had raised its estimate from $1.48 billion in mid-July after getting a clearer picture of the losses incurred by livestock farmers.

The extension service, a state agency associated with Texas A&M University, said livestock producers were now estimated to have lost $451 million, up from a July figure of $180 million.

Livestock producers' losses could double without significant rainfall in August, it said, adding that this would put some ranchers out of business and leave others struggling.

"There's no doubt, as I talk with ranchers and farmers, that they are in the greatest despair I've ever seen," extension service beef cattle specialist Larry Boleman said.

Texas has been hit by its second severe drought in three years with triple-digit temperatures in much of the state since earlyJuly and scant rainfall since March.

Light rains and cooler temperatures brought some relief to many areas on Wednesday but weather experts said it was too early to pronounce an end to the deadly heat wave.

The previous drought in 1996 cost farmers and ranchers some $1.9 billion, but economists say the wider economic impact of a drought is three Times greater than farmers' direct losses.

Texas is the the biggest beef-producing state in the United States and is also a major cotton producer.

Cotton farmers are estimated to have lost some $500 million, with much of this year's crop destroyed by the searing heat.

Many ranchers have had to liquidate their herds or sell calves before they are fully grown because the drought has wiped out feed crops and and burned up grazing land.

They have also had to buy in hay at extra cost to feed their remaining animals.

Many ranchers were still struggling to get back on their feet after the previous drought when they were hit again this year.

"The drought of'96 was a killer. Ranchers haven't had time to heal up, get money in the bank and get debts paid off," said John Dudley, a rancher from Comanche.

President Bill Clinton has declared farmers and ranchers in all 254 counties of Texas eligible for federal disaster relief.

And on Monday the House of Representatives gave final congressional approval to a bill providing farmers with an early payment of $5.5 billion in federal subsidies to help them cope with the drought in the Southern states and low grain prices.

Still pending in Congress is a Democratic proposal for $500 million in farm indemnity payments that would compensate farmers for repeated crop losses and severe income losses.

The White House has urged Congress to move quickly to enact this provision.