Drought in North, South Dakota Causing Worst Conditions in Decades, Farmers Say.
If the drought persists into next year, it could start pushing producers out of business.
A drought impacting parts of the High Plains has reduced fields normally plentiful with crops to waste, along with pastures that typically would be home to grazing cattle.
"We’ve never been in this sort of boat, honestly," said Dawn Martin, who raises beef cattle with her parents and husband in the southwestern part of the state, an area the U.S. Drought Monitor says is in "extreme" drought.
The latest Drought Monitor map shows nearly all of western North Dakota in severe or extreme drought, conditions that extend into northern South Dakota and northeastern Montana.
Weinand figures his wheat crop will be half what it usually is.
"What we’re trying to do is hold onto our main cow herd, get through the year, and hopefully next year is better," Martin said.
Neither does crop insurance, which pays only a portion of what a farmer would get by selling a typical crop, said Goehring, who in addition to heading the state Agriculture Department is a farmer who has worked in the insurance industry.
The demand has pushed prices to as much as double the normal cost.
"We’ll make it through," Martin said.