Timely rains could provide relief from drought for livestock farmers

By Cameron Montemayor

The arrival of rain and storms Wednesday and the potential for more this weekend is a welcome sign for area livestock farmers and others faced with moderate to severe drought conditions.

According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, all of Buchanan County is affected by some form of drought, with 52% of the county in severe drought and the rest falling under moderate drought. It marks a 100% increase over the last month.

Conditions were enough to force Gov. Mike Parson to declare a drought alert on Tuesday for Missouri until March 31. Parson signed an executive order asking the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to activate the Drought Assessment Committee, which will work with impact teams on response and recovery recommendations.

For Tim Gach, area farmer and president of the Buchanan County Farm Bureau in Missouri, Wednesday’s rain could end up being the most significant since early September, he said.

“At one point we were over four inches of rainfall on average for the year. We’re down to less than a quarter inch now over average for the year,” he said. “In September, normally we cut silage for our cows and afterwards we’ll put a cover crop in there. And we were really fortunate we got that in and got a really nice rain on it. And but since then we basically have had nothing.”

Drought conditions have had a larger impact on livestock operations and pastures for many farmers. Gach said he knows several area farmers who have seen their pastures quit growing due to prolonged dry conditions.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Missouri pasture condition reports for the week of Oct. 20, 32% of fields were rated poor and 37% were rated fair.

“If you’re a cattle farmer, though, you still need to have some rain to keep those pastures revitalized and also the ponds going so they have a drinking source and things like that,” he said. “We have issues on one of our farms where the pond is just about dried up. So we’re having to go over there and take water and put water in a tank for the cows.”

The impact of recent conditions varies for crop farmers like Ryan Frakes, who operates a farm of roughly 1,500 acres and sells produce at the Pony Express Farmers Market by the East Hills Shopping Center. Drought conditions have been moderate enough to limit the impact on harvest for fall crops like sweet potatoes, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower.

For timely and popular crops like pumpkins, Frakes said weather conditions have actually helped in some areas, allowing for more workable days thus far to earn a larger harvest.

“Pumpkin harvest went well … the dry weather has kept diseases down and it’s been nice being able to pick every day. The field hadn’t been muddy,” he said.

Until Wednesday, a lack of rainfall in recent months has been a continuation of large swings he and many other farmers have seen with rain events and moisture this year.

“We started out dry and we were watering things way earlier than normal and then we got super wet and then we didn’t have water as much. Now we’re dry again,” Frakes said. “Some other crops were having to do watering to keep them going, you know, for longer-term crops.”