“We are experiencing the driest conditions in 126 years. The Drought Monitor has us as D4, exceptional drought. That’s the highest it goes,” said Paige Brummond, NDSU Extension Office for Ward County.

Brummond has seen first-hand the effect of the on-going drought conditions in Ward and surrounding counties where “severe” and “exceptional” drought is hitting both farmers and ranchers very hard.

“It’s bad everywhere, especially south of Minot, Max, Makoti, Ryder,” stated Brummond. “It’s bad all the way around. In the sandier soils in McHenry County it’s pretty tough out there too, pasture and forage.”

Brummond estimated that forage production, feed needed for livestock, is 1/5th to 1/4th of normal.

“Even if it’s green after some rain in June, it was too little, too late,” explained Brummond. “The yield potential just isn’t there. Even if it started raining now it won’t grow anymore. It has reached maturity. That’s all we’re going to get. It’s going to put a huge strain on our forage this winter.”

A growing number of livestock producers have faced difficult but necessary decisions, some selling out their herds completely because of a lack of good pasture and feed.

“It pretty bad, a dire situation,” said Brummond. “Crops are doing so poor. Early planted small grains, wheat, durum, and barley. Wheat is running as low as 5-6 bushels an acre. A lot of producers are deciding to put it up for hay if it’s tall enough to make a bale. If they don’t have cattle to feed they can sell it to somebody who does.”

There’s other problems caused by exceptionally dry conditions too. Grains can become high in nitrates, even reaching toxic levels. Brummond advises livestock owners to test grains before feeding it to livestock.

“The drought exacerabates a lot of problems,” said Brummond. “In drought years in particular, plants tend to accumulate nitrates.”

If poor pasture and forage growth wasn’t bad enough, water is also becoming a big issue. Sloughs and potholes and stock dams and streams are drying up and water quality is a growing concern.

“The salts and sulfates become more concentrated as water supplies dry up like we’ve seen in Ward County and surrounding areas,” said Brummond. “Water sources need to be tested to see if they are acceptable or not.”

Of approximately 60 water samples tested by Brummond’s office, she said, at least 15 have come back as not acceptable and some with a recommendation to not let livestock drink any of it. The on-going drought has also caused many livestock owners to search for alternative water supplies.

“There’s a huge waiting list for drilling wells,” remarked Brummond. “This region has a lot of work to be done. People are hauling water and running pipelines to get water to certain areas. It’s a struggle. Our best hope is to have enough snow next winter to refresh water holes.”

With pasture-land grasses vital to providing livestock with a place to graze being particularly hard hit by dry conditions, a number of ranchers have had no other option than to sell their livestock. For some it can be a career-ending decision.

“Many don’t know if they’ll come back in the future or not,” said Brummond. “There’s some pretty emotional decisions. It’s not an easy thing to do, to look at a cow herd and decide what to sell.”