Drought Conference Call – June 1, 2015
■ Western, Central N.D. Still Dry
Kurt Froelich, Stark/Billings County - Dickinson appears to be behind in rainfall; still need ½
to ¾ inch to the east. The entire Badlands area still is dry.
Karl Hoppe, Carrington Research Extension Center - Pastures in central North Dakota still
need moisture and some heat.
Jared Nelson, Bottineau County - The eastern part of the county needs ¾ to 1 inch of rain. The
western part is too wet.
Craig Askim, Mercer County - Mercer needs about an inch of rain.
Adnan Akyuz, assistant professor/climatologist - Fargo had 7.8 inches of rain in May, making
it the wettest on record. This year’s rainfall shattered the record by more than 1 inch. Meanwhile,
western North Dakota still is a little drier than normal. However, the forecast for the next day or
so is for severe thunderstorms with about 1 inch of rain and 1-inch hail and 60 mph winds, but
dry the rest of the week. He wants to hear from agents about conditions in western North Dakota.
Reports by Region
■ Northeast
Angie Johnson, Steele County - The county could use ½ inch of rain. Some areas are wetter
than others. A lot cattle went out to pasture last weekend. The grass is pretty short. Crops are
looking great, and sloughs and ponds are full again. Soil temperatures look good. The area got a
nip of frost last Friday night, but no crops were damaged. The area needs heat to get pasture
grass and crops growing.
■ Southeast
Brock Shouldis, Richland County - The area is very wet. It has enough moisture for the time
being. No crop losses from excessive moisture have been reported yet, but some probably will
occur.
Kelsie Egeland, Emmons County - Producers would like the rain to stop so they can get into
the fields. Pastures have been slow to grow, but they are getting green.
■ Southwest
Becky Buchmann, Dunn County - The area had two rains last week, getting ¾ to 1 inch on
Tuesday and ¼ inch on Thursday, so moisture is considerably better. Crops are coming up
slowly. Crops and pasture need heat to really start growing.
Irene Graves, McLean County - The county could use about ½ inch of rain. Pasture grass is
starting to grow. Cattle went out on pasture last week.
■ Northwest
Chris Augustin, North Central Research Extension Center - Minot received 3¼ to 3⅓ inches
of rain, and the subsoil moisture was pretty good before that. The area hasn’t received too much
rain, although the Souris River was doing some flooding in the Towner area.
Dan Folske, Burke County - The Bowbells area could use some rain but not too much. Planting
is 99 percent complete. Crops and pastures need warm weather to start growing.
■ Other Concerns
▪ Ticks
Graves - Ticks have become an epidemic. The problem is especially bad for horses. At what
point do ticks become detrimental to livestock?
Karla Ryan, McKenzie County - Ticks are bad in her county. She pulls 20 to 30 off horses
each day.
J.W. Schroeder, Extension dairy specialist and conference call leader - He will refer Graves’
question to the Extension veterinarian.
▪ Winter kill/frost damage
Schroeder - Crop damage has not been a problem, but forages suffered a setback. From here
east, older stands of alfalfa had some frost loss.
Askim - He’s aware of some damage to canola and alfalfa. Some canola had to be replanted. The
alfalfa loss is 20 to 25 percent. Some corn also had to be replanted. With the moisture this spring,
producers should get a second cutting of alfalfa.
Hoppe - Alfalfa didn’t have much winter kill in his area but did experience some frost losses.
Kelcey Hoffmann, Cass County - Some alfalfa has been lost.
Augustin - He checked with an American Crystal Sugar agronomist in the Grafton area, who
reported that beets haven’t suffered frost damage.
▪ Cattle eating frost-damaged feeds
Carl Dahlen, beef cattle specialist - That is not a concern now. The questions livestock
specialists have been receiving are what to do with forages that have suffered winter kill.
Askim - Do producers need to bale or store frost-damaged first-cutting alfalfa any differently
than normal?
Schroeder - Producers don’t need to do anything differently. Some producers may be tempted to
delay cutting, but that’s not a good idea. If they can cut, they should do it so that the moisture
that’s available can be used to produce a second crop.
▪ Grass tetany
Dahlen - The recent rainfall will lead to some rapid pasture growth. If pastures that were grazed
down heavily last year get good, lush growth this year, the calcium-magnesium balance could be
a concern in cows in the peak of lactation. NDSU Extension has a publication on grass tetany
that would be helpful to producers. Peak lactation is occurring now. Don’t put the heavy milking
cows on this lush growth. Yearlings, replacements and bulls aren’t susceptible to grass tetany, so
they are OK on this pasture. Grass tetany is a cool-season grasses issue, so try to avoid putting
lactating cows on those pastures if using those pastures is necessary.
▪ Poultry at fairs
Several agents reported canceling poultry shows at county fairs. Some fairs also are canceling
petting zoos. The State Board of Animal Health is revisiting the poultry ban issue at a meeting
June 10.
Hoffmann - She spoke to Dean Aakre, 4-H youth development specialist, about bringing eggs to
fairs. He said if the eggs are clean and come from operations not infected with the avian flu, they
should be OK.
▪ Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus
Askim - Is PEDv still a concern?
Schroeder - He will refer that question to state and Extension veterinarians.
Announcements
Buchmann - The Federal Emergency Management Agency is holding a table-top exercise at the
Killdeer ambulance facility June 18. It starts at 10 a.m. Mountain time. The topic will be a mock
livestock emergency.
Askim - He is holding a tractor safety school June 15-16 for youth 13 to 16 years old. It will be
held at the Beulah Civic Center from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. both days. The cost is $50. Rick
Schmidt, Oliver County, is assisting with this event. Youth need this class if they do not have a
driver’s license and plan to operate a tractor on property other than their parents’ farm.
Schroeder - June is Dairy Month. The Van Bedaf Dairy at 170 70th Ave. N.E., Carrington, is
hosting “LegenDAIRY” - a dairy farm open house on Sunday, June 14, at the farm three miles
east of Carrington on North Dakota Highway 200 and 1.5 miles south (gravel road). The event
starts at 11 a.m. Everyone is invited.
No further calls are scheduled unless circumstances warrant.