Small ranchers do their bit for drought victims.
1 / 3 JAMESTOWN, N.D. — Hay-harvesting time is drawing to a close for Kurt and Diane Andersen.
The Andersens both have careers in town but are just finishing the summertime chore of putting up hay to get their cattle and horses through the winter on a hobby ranch about 12 miles east of Jamestown.
Diane is a business analyst United Technologies Aerospace Systems, a company that makes cargo handling systems for airplanes.
Kurt grew up at Wimbledon, N.D., where he lived on the edge of town and "milked six cows by hand" at a hobby farm.
Between the horses and cattle, the farm goes through about 200 large round bales a year.
Drought Normally, the Andersens put up 450 bales, but this year they’re getting about 300 because of drought.
They got some small squares up in early June, Diane says.
Over the Fourth of July, we were working on small squares and large round bales.
We’re working on getting some straw bales put up too," she says.