All of North Dakota is in drought, with 47% in severe drought. 12:12 pm, Apr. 6, 2021 ×
All of North Dakota is in drought, with 47% in severe drought.
As a result, many ranchers are going through the process of developing drought plans for 2021.
North Dakota State University Extension specialists will host a live monthly webinar to assist ranchers as they navigate the drought. The webinars will be held the last Thursday of each month at 1 p.m. Central time and will start on Thursday, April 29.
The webinars will begin with an update on drought conditions and climate outlook. Specialists then will discuss upcoming drought triggers, how to access triggers for ranches and management strategies to consider. The goal is to help ranchers make timely decisions and enhance their ability to withstand the drought, as well as give them an opportunity to discuss drought-related concerns.
The drought maps say . . .
There are different ways of defining and measuring drought. The U.S. Drought Monitor, which describes its mission as providing a consistent big-picture look at drought conditions in the United States, splits drought into five categories. In increasing levels of intensity, they are abnormally dry, moderate drought, severe drought, extreme drought and exceptional drought.
Virtually all of Minnesota and North Dakota, most of Montana and South Dakota and northern and western Iowa are in one of those five stages. The western half of North Dakota, northwest Montana, northeast South Dakota and extreme northwest Iowa are particularly hard hit, according to the Drought Monitor, a joint effort of the National Drought Mitigation Center, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Sedivec explained that the area has only received 16% of normal precipitation since September.
“I’ve never seen that before and I’ve been doing this for 32 years,” he said. “In these dry conditions, looking at the numbers, we are at about 5% of normal subsoil moisture. That is statewide. There are other areas with as low as 2% normal subsoil moisture.”
“If I was a farmer, in terms of cropland, I would be concerned about getting a crop raised this year,” Sedivec warned. “At least our grasses are deep-rooted, they will still find some water. But it’s not a good scenario.”
for Tri-State Livestock News
Dust driven by wind storms across the Dakotas is eerily reminiscent of the Dust Bowl years nearly a century ago; current drought conditions give farmers and ranchers cause for concern about the upcoming growing season.
While the warmer than average winter has had its benefits, it has also set the area up for a precarious situation going into the spring and summer. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem have both recently declared a State of Emergency due to the dry conditions and high fire danger in their states.
The United States Drought Monitor continues to indicate a critical lack of moisture for much of the Great Plains. March snowstorms brought a bit of relief to some areas but forecasted warmer and drier than normal conditions for the foreseeable future stand poised to suck the soil dry again.
Calf Losses Before Birth a Concern
Gerald Stokka and Brett Webb
Calf abortions can be a major concern for cattle producers.
An abortion is the discharge of the fetus prior to the end of the normal gestation period, according to Gerald Stokka, North Dakota State University Extension veterinarian and livestock stewardship specialist. Many abortions occur within the first 45 days of conception (called early embryonic death), and the embryos or fetuses are so small that they may not be seen.
Other abortions may occur near normal calving time, and determining whether the cow has aborted or a premature birth has occurred is difficult. A stillbirth is when a full-term calf is born dead, with no evidence of the cause of death.