Des Moines Register
07-30-06
Drought squeezes farmers' finances
Some growers forced to buy water, feed for livestock
By ANNE FITZGERALD
REGISTER AGRIBUSINESS WRITER
Albia, Ia. - At the height of summer heat, each of Bryan Reed's cows consume 25
to 30 gallons of water daily. When the ponds are full and streams are running,
the water is free. This summer, it's not.
"I've got one set of 120 cows that have been on rural water for about a month
and a half," Reed said. "We're having to buy that water."
Red ink is flowing this summer in drought-stricken rural areas, like Monroe
County, where Reed farms with his father, Ron. Cool-season grasses have gone
dormant. Warm-season grasses aren't growing. Hayfields that typically produce
three to four cuttings per year have yielded only one, maybe two. Corn has not
pollinated. Soybeans that should be thigh-high are barely a foot tall.
Economists and policymakers watching the situation closely say it's too soon to
know what the full economic impact will be. Some effects will not emerge until
next year, they said, but already the impact has hit the driest areas.
Livestock feeders accustomed to raising their own forage and grain have been
forced to buy. Some producers have started to cull their cow herds. The situation
reaches from the Dakotas to Texas, and it is spreading throughout the western
Corn Belt, where crop and livestock production are multibillion-dollar businesses.
How the weather plays out for the rest of the year will affect crop farmers,
livestock feeders, grain processors and other agribusinesses.
Nurseries, landscapers, golf courses and, ultimately, consumers will feel the
impact, economists said last week.
Extreme drought covers about two-thirds of South Dakota, with exceptional
drought - the worst level - gripping the heart of that region. Extreme drought also
has hit most of Oklahoma and much of Texas, and it is expanding in Minnesota
and Wisconsin.
Except for about a dozen northeastern and east-central Iowa counties, dryness
to some degree covers the entire state, a garden spot for several successive
years. Moderate drought has hit most of southern and western Iowa, with large -
and growing - patches of severe drought in northwestern and south-central
areas.
In Monroe County, an hour southeast of Des Moines, precipitation from Jan. 1 to
July 27 totaled 56 percent of normal, said Harry Hillaker, state climatologist with
the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship in Des Moines. Weeks
of hot, windy weather have compounded the deficit: In the past three months, the
county has received just one-third of its normal precipitation.
"Sixty percent of the corn planted did not shoot tassels or silk," said Mark
Carlton, an Iowa State University Extension field specialist based in Albia,
the county seat. "I thought we were in bad shape, but I didn't know we were in
that bad of shape."
Dryness there has persisted for more than a year. Between Jan. 1, 2005, and the
end of last week, the county should have received almost 60 inches of
precipitation. Actual precipitation totaled about 39 inches. Despite last week's
widespread rainfall, drought is still a problem, weather specialists said.
"It helped in some areas, but not so much in other areas, and it probably missed
the worst-off areas altogether," Hillaker said. About an inch and a half fell
overnight last Tuesday in Monroe County, where Reed and his father raise crops
and cattle.
"That's probably their best rain in quite some time," Hillaker said. "That helps ...
but doesn't really go very far to reduce their rainfall deficit, which is substantial."
Old-timers say it hasn't been this dry in decades. Old trees, including hackberries
that are more than 50 years old, are dying.
It's been years since widespread drought hit the heart of the United States.
Elwynn Taylor, Iowa State Extension climatologist, says such droughts occur
every 18 or 19 years. It has been 18 years since the drought of 1988.
Reed and other farmers gauge soil moisture conditions by how well their
pastures perform. Already, they have begun to feed hay to their cattle herds,
because pastures have dried up.
"A lot of times, we can get clear up to Christmastime before we feed hay," Reed
said. "But we're feeding hay now. ... There's just no subsoil moisture."
Normally, he would sell about $10,000 of hay, in addition to raising what he
needs to feed his cattle. On top of what it's costing to water half of his cow herd,
Reed's red ink is adding up. And the year is just half over.
"It's supposed to be hot for several more days," a dispirited Reed said late last
week. "Every one of those hot days makes it that much worse."
Reporter Anne Fitzgerald can be reached at (515) 284-8122 or
afitzgerald@dmreg.com