Drought has been spreading across southeastern and central Wyoming, and that has farmers looking at the sky a little more often than usual.
“It’s been pretty rough,” southeastern Wyoming farmer Ron Rabou told Cowboy State Daily.
Rabou’s farm lies in an area that’s shaded deep red, for extreme drought, on the U.S. Drought Monitor Map. He told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday he’d do “just about anything” for rain right now. Prayer, rain dances, you name it.
“A lot of the storms that have come through here lately have been very sporadic,” Rabou said. “The area as a whole is still very, very dry, so it’s a fire hazard, but it also leads into the ability to graze cattle.”
Rabou often has the conversation with his family about taking care of what you can control and praying about the rest.
With Rabou’s farm 100% dryland, rain is in the prayer category. His hay fields and pastures just have to make do with whatever rain they get. No irrigation is coming to rescue them.
“Rain really affects our ability to raise what we need to in any kind of a profitable manner,” he said.
Little rain means buying more hay and having less profit — much less profit.
Recent Rain Doesn’t Begin To Cure Drought
The U.S. Drought Monitor map summarizes data from the previous week, but even the recent rain in southeast Wyoming didn’t do much to mitigate the dryness, Cowboy State Daily Meteorologist Don Day said.
Moisture is still about 50% behind normal in southeast Wyoming, despite the recent snowfall and rain.
“Getting rid of a drought is like eating an elephant,” Day said. “You can’t do it with just one or two storms. It has to be over a period of time.”
These upcoming months are what Day calls the “money” months for agriculture.
“December, January, and February are the three driest months of the year in Wyoming for lower elevations,” Day said. “We just do not get a lot of precipitation then.”
But in March, average precipitation starts going up, and the wetter period typically will last through June.
“So, these next three months are really critical for drought areas to either see improvement, have it get worse, or somewhere in between,” Day said. “We’re kind of on the cusp of the real important months.”
March was not spectacular, Day added. It was a good month. Better than a year ago.
Snowpack, too, is not spectacular. But it’s also in “decent” shape.
So what will ultimately determine where the farmers in Wyoming stand with drought this year is the precipitation they get from April through June.
“Two or three wet storms, especially in May and June, can make a huge difference,” Day said.
USDA Offering Emergency Loans
The drought that’s settled over Wyoming has become severe enough lately that the USDA has announced emergency loans for several Wyoming counties. The primary drought-designated counties are Albany, Big Horn, Carbon, Fremont, Hot Springs Lincoln, Natrona, Park, Sublette, and Washakie counties. Adjacent counties — Converse, Johnson, Laramie, Platte, Sheridan, Sweetwater, Teton, and Uintah — may also apply for the loans, which are being administered through the Farm Service Agency.
The loans typically have lower interest rates than what the market offers and can be used for a wide variety of needs, including replacement of essential equipment or livestock, reorganizing farming operations, or refinancing debts.
Whether Wyoming farmers will use the loans to help them this season is another matter, though.
Even though the drought has hurt his operation, Rabou said he isn’t interested in these loans at this time.
“It’s very helpful to some farmers, but the hard thing about ag is it’s not a level playing field,” Rabou said. “What works for one guy doesn’t always work for the next guy. But it’s always good to have those options.”
Rabou worries about stipulations that might come with government loans, and feels more comfortable with the existing relationship he has with a longstanding lender, who has seen his operation through in both “good times and bad.”
“There’s going to be strings attached (to government loans),” Rabou said. “So, we’re going to stick with the known quantity for now.”
That doesn’t mean he’d never use the loans, Rabou added. Just that he’s comfortable with the solutions he has in place for now.
Johnson County Getting More Rain Than Southeast
Rabou wasn’t the only one thinking that way.
David Belus in Johnson County farms an area that’s also in severe to extreme drought right now, according to the drought monitor map. He told Cowboy State Daily he’s not planning to use the emergency loans, either — though he said he might ask the FSA agent in his county about them. Mainly out of curiosity to learn more.
Belus has been luckier this spring than Rabou when it comes to rain.
It’s a good thing, too, since a monster fire last summer scorched miles and miles of his farm, leaving him with dust devils that were carrying away his topsoil, right before his eyes.
Snow and gentle rain are what his fields need most right now, and that’s what he’s been getting so far. Gentle snow melting into the ground, with not much drying wind to carry away moisture and more topsoil.
“Probably about two weeks ago, we got 4 to 6 inches of snow,” Belus said. “And it came straight down. The wind didn’t blow, and that snow just melted in.”
Then another 6 to 7 inches of snow dusted everything again, with only a little wind. Monday, there was another half an inch of rain and snow.
“So, we’re actually setting really good,” Belus said. “We’re supposed to get another 1 to 3 inches tonight, so we’ll see what happens.”
That doesn’t mean Belus is uncrossing his fingers just yet. As many farmers say, particularly in the semi-arid west, a farm is always one rain away from drought.
“We’re never out of the woods,” Belus said. “Here in about July, we might all be (struggling again). But right now, things don’t look too bad.
“We’ve gotten a lot of our fence rebuilt. We have some sagebrush seeded. So, we’re kind of plugging along, just hoping Mother Nature takes care of us.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
