"We had a lot of snow last year and everyone was expecting we were going to be off to a great start.
By the first of May, we knew we were in trouble,” said Schmidt.
But, farmers and ranchers will remember the year by one word: drought.
"Next year, if we’re anywhere near this dry, we’re going to be selling an awful lot more cattle than what we had to experience in 2017,” said Schmidt.
"Going into the winter season, we still have a severe drought on our hands and that’s probably not going to change for a while to come.
But the outlook through late March, really before the growing season starts, not faring so well here for the Northern Plains.
We will likely continue to see drought conditions,” said Lawrence.
"Those plants can handle it for one year.
The second year, we’re going to have to maybe delay turnout.
The current drought monitor shows that 60 percent of North Dakota is still in a drought, but no areas are listed as extreme drought.