Wyoming Ranchers Have To Deal With Drought Issues

Now that ranchers are trying to move forward from the COVID pandemic, they have a much hotter and dryer issue to deal with.

The most recent US drought monitor shows that about 89% of Wyoming is abnormally dry.

About 2/3rds of the state is in a moderate drought, another 1/4th is in severe drought and 2 percent is dealing with extreme drought conditions.

The National Weather Service recently released their summer seasonal drought outlook for Wyoming, and it says drought conditions will persist for most of the cowboy state.

Executive Vice President Jim Magagna of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association says some ranchers are already being impacted by the current conditions.

“I am starting to see some signs that some people are having to dispose of some cattle because of lack of pasture which is most unfortunate. If they’re summer pasture cattle, it just means they’ll have less revenue this year and then come back next year, but if their cow calf operators have to sell off some of their replacement heifers or that, that has a long term impact.”

The US Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service recommends that ranchers have a drought plan, don’t allow their cattle to overgraze, find alternative feeds and forages, and improve water resources.