Some area operations holding their own during drought.
No one is exempt from the effects of the drought in northeastern South Dakota, as well as other parts of the state, but each operation toured on the first day of the 2017 Governor’s Agricultural Summit is working through the cracks.
“Craig (Bieber) keeps at least a year’s worth of hay, so we’re good for this year,” she said.
“But if we don’t get rain, who knows about next year.” While the ranch has hay for the time being, other South Dakota cattlemen have been forced to cut their herd sizes or, in some cases, even sell entire herds, because of the lack of pasture caused by the drought.
Bieber, however, said that if it comes down to it, there will be hay for those that need it.
The ranch believes that technology is making herds better, Craig Bieber said, and, in that sense, there are some newer frontiers the ranch is trying, such as selecting for disease resistance or for taste of beef.
For that reason, Bieber Angus Ranch focuses more on the science than a lot of beef cattle operations down the road, he said.
With the ongoing drought, a simple drive through the area clearly shows who is and is not taking care of their grass, he said.
The robots provide a great opportunity when it comes to both cover crops and swath grazing, he said, as the team of robots would move livestock to another section of pasture — perhaps as a cattleman sits in the comfort of his own home.
Eventually, the fencing robots could help in drought conditions, Mack said, but first, farmers and ranchers need to get their pastures healthy again.