Drought

Cattle sales were brisk as drought persisted in North Dakota. Many people were comparing this year with the harsh drought years of 1988-89. Poor to very poor condition continues to describe the state’s alfalfa, pasture and range and spring wheat crop and water supplies were mostly short or very short. The Bismarck Tribune (N.D.), July 19, 2021

Lake Oroville’s Edward Hyatt Power plant may lose the ability to generate hydropower in August or September, but was able to remain online during the droughts of 1977 and 2014-15. California’s hydropower generating capacity has dropped by about 1,000 megawatts, due to drought, per the California Public Utilities Commission. Los Angeles Times, July 21, 2021 The Edward Hyatt Power Plant at Lake Oroville likely has enough water to continue producing hydropower for another two to three months before the water level is expected to fall too low for further power production, according to a California Energy Commission spokesperson. The hydroelectric power plant, the fourth largest energy producer in California, has never closed before since it began operation in 1967, but its production was 20% of total capacity as water levels fall. The present water level was near 700 feet above sea level, but power generation would end at 640 feet. CNN (Atlanta, Ga.), June 17, 2021

Grasshopper populations remained unusually high in parts of the West, notably in Montana and Oregon, amid heat and drought. Grasshoppers were also problematic in Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas and Arizona and more mildly in Utah, California, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. Hot, dry periods allow grasshopper numbers to increase due to fewer natural diseases to limit population increase than during cool, wet periods. Agri-Pulse (Sacramento, Calif.), July 21, 2021 The grasshopper population was so large in the West that ranchers feared for their rangelands. The 2021 grasshopper hazard map produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicates areas with more than 15 grasshoppers per square yard in Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado and Kansas. More than 2.6 million acres of Montana grasslands were to be sprayed with insecticide to kill the grasshoppers. CNN US (Atlanta, Ga.), July 2, 2021

Livestock sales at Lake Region Livestock Co. in Devils Lake was selling 800 to 1,000 head weekly, more than twice the number sold twice per month before the drought. Ranchers began selling replacement quality heifers in May. Demand for the cattle is good, so the prices were decent. A rancher from the Rugby area sold a bull and 50 heifers so far because his pasture was dry and his hay yield was 100 bales, or less than 15% of normal. Grand Forks Herald (N.D.), July 3, 2021

Montana alfalfa growers were waiting longer to harvest amid worsening drought, which is contributing to a hay shortage. Prices were three to four times higher than this time last year. Cattle culling was widespread. KTVQ-TV Q2 Billings (Mont.), July 20, 2021

Drought has dried up stock ponds in South Dakota, concentrating potentially lethal salts, nitrates and sulfates and killing cattle. Producers were strongly urged to get their water tested. Sioux Falls Argus Leader (S.D.), July 22, 2021

The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food was monitoring the effects of hay shortages as drought hindered grass growth and hay supplies became depleted. Hay yields were halved in most areas and by up to 75% to 90% in southern Utah. Major hay shortages were projected statewide, leaving farmers hard-pressed to feed livestock, which will likely lead to livestock sales to out-of-state buyers. Deseret News (Salt Lake City), July 17, 2021

Pastures were dry in Stearns County, offering little for hungry cattle. Hayfields ought to be knee-high, but were sparse and just ankle-high, and were only about 25% of normal. Scarce hay costs about three times the normal price, but must be purchased since not enough was growing to feed the livestock. A farmer’s 2,500 acres of corn produced nothing to harvest. KARE-TV NBC 11 (Minneapolis, Minn.), July 20, 2021

Drought stressed blueberry bushes on a farm in Arundel, preventing most of the 1,500 bushes from blossoming, leading the farm to close for the season. WGAN-AM (Portland, Maine), July 17, 2021

Bagley Auction in Clearwater County, which typically does not sell cattle during the summer was auctioning several hundred cattle weekly. Park Rapids Enterprise (Minn.), July 22, 2021

A Pennington County hay grower who typically gets 700 to 800 large rounds bales from his first cutting only got 100 bales and will not get a second cutting because it’s too dry. Park Rapids Enterprise (Minn.), July 22, 2021

San Luis Valley rangeland was beginning to dry up and needed moisture if it is to support cattle grazing. Kiowa County Press (Eads, Colo.), July 20, 2021

Northwest Colorado ranchers were culling cattle heavily due to drought and short feed supplies. Hay production was lower than normal, whether irrigated or not. Kiowa County Press (Eads, Colo.), July 20, 2021

Of the 678 farmers and ranchers surveyed in the West and Northern Plains, many reported that selling off portions of the herd/flock, increases in local feed costs linked to drought, and traveling long distances to acquire feed and forage were prevalent or higher in their area. In terms of crops, prevalent actions taken to cope with drought were reduction of planted acreage and switching planned planted crops. Farm Bureau (Washington, D.C.), July 22, 2021

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visited Polk County in the northwest to see how drought has affected area farmers. Wheat and dry edible beans were stricken by the dry conditions and will see reduced yields. Livestock producers, just like in North Dakota, have seen pastures and forage damaged by the lack of rain and have opted to sell cattle because they do not have enough feed. Gov. Walz requested that U.S. Ag Secy. Tom Vilsack open Conservation Reserve Program land, and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture talked to the Nature Conservancy about opening up some of its land for haying and grazing. Park Rapids Enterprise (Minn.), July 22, 2021

Utah’s reservoirs are lower mid-July 2021 than they were at the end of the 2020 irrigation season last October. Three months remain in the irrigation season and the water being used is storage from previous years. KSTU-TV FOX13 (Salt Lake City, Utah), July 15, 2021

Gov. Tim Walz and most of Minnesota’s congressional delegation requested that USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack allow livestock farmers to use CRP lands for emergency grazing and haying in areas where drought was categorized as D2 or worse. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Rural Finance Authority Board on July 14 declared an emergency due to the dry conditions, which made available zero-interest loans for farmers in drought-affected areas. The Brainerd Dispatch (Minn.), July 15, 2021

The Bureau of Reclamation began releasing water from Flaming Gorge reservoir in Wyoming to maintain the level of Lake Powell and prolong its ability to produce hydroelectric power. The Bureau will also release water from Blue Mesa in Colorado from August through October and Navajo Lake straddling the Colorado/New Mexico border in November and December. The aim is to raise Lake Powell by 2.6 feet. KUNC 91.5 FM (Greeley, Colo.), July 15, 2021

A salvage order was issued for Mormon Reservoir and Fish Creek Reservoir in the Magic Valley Region. While a lot of the reservoirs would typically be stocked with fish in the fall, water temperatures will be too high and water levels too low for stocking fish. Hatcheries, however, need to put the fish somewhere. In southeast Idaho, water temperatures were too high for trout, which need temperatures below 70 degrees, so staff put out most of the fish in June rather than stocking some in August. Idaho State Journal (Pocatello), July 9, 2021

Idaho’s hatchery and fishery managers were forced by the drought, heat and low water levels to stock fish in different areas or adjust the schedule for the fishes’ survival. Instead of stocking Mackay Reservoir, which was near 17% of capacity, hatchery staff took the fish to upper Big Lost River streams. Idaho State Journal (Pocatello), July 9, 2021