MORE THAN 60% OF U.S. IN DROUGHT

[Anonymous]

More Than 60 Percent of U.S. in Drought
STEELE,
N.D. (July 06) – More than 60 percent of the United States now has
abnormally dry or drought conditions, stretching from Georgia to
Arizona and across the north through the Dakotas, Minnesota, Montana
and Wisconsin, said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist for the National
Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
A
farmer attempts to harvest the shriveled up wheat in his
drought-stricken field near Linton, N.D. An area stretching from
central North Dakota to central South Dakota is the most
drought-stricken region in the nation, climatologists say.An area
stretching from south central North Dakota to central South Dakota is
the most drought-stricken region in the nation, Svoboda said.”It’s the
epicenter,” he said. “It’s just like a wasteland in north central South
Dakota.”Conditions aren’t much better a little farther north. Paul
Smokov and his wife, Betty, raise several hundred cattle on their
1,750-acre ranch north of Steele, a town of about 760 people.Fields of
wheat, durum and barley in the Dakotas this dry summer will never end
up as pasta, bread or beer. What is left of the stifled crops has been
salvaged to feed livestock struggling on pastures where hot winds blow
clouds of dirt from dried-out ponds.Some ranchers have been forced to
sell their entire herds, and others are either moving their cattle to
greener pastures or buying more already-costly feed. Hundreds of acres
of grasslands have been blackened by fires sparked by lightning or farm
equipment.”These 100-degree days for weeks steady have been burning
everything up,” said Steele Mayor Walter Johnson, who added that he’d
prefer 2 feet of snow over this weather.Farm ponds and other small
bodies of water have dried out from the heat, leaving the residual
alkali dust to be whipped up by the wind. The blowing, dirt-and-salt
mixture is a phenomenon that hasn’t been seen in south central North
Dakota since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, Johnson said.North Dakota’s
all-time high temperature was set here in July 1936, at 121. Smokov,
now 81, remembers that time and believes conditions this summer
probably are worse.”I could see this coming in May,” Smokov said of the
parched pastures and wilted crops. “That’s the time the good Lord gives
us our general rains. But we never got them this year.”Brad Rippey, a
federal Agriculture Department meteorologist in Washington, said this
year’s drought is continuing one that started in the late 1990s. “The
1999 to 2006 drought ranks only behind the 1930s and the 1950s. It’s
the third-worst drought on record – period,” Rippey said.Svoboda was
reluctant to say how bad the current drought might eventually be.”We’ll
have to wait to see how it plays out – but it’s definitely bad,” he
said. “And the drought seems to not be going anywhere soon.”Herman
Schumacher, who owns Herreid Livestock Auction in north central South
Dakota, said his company is handling more sales than ever because of
the drought.In May, June and July last year, his company sold 3,800
cattle. During the same months this year, more than 27,000 cattle have
been sold, he said.”I’ve been in the barn here for 25 years and I can’t
even compare this year to any other year,” Schumacher said.He said
about 50 ranchers have run cows through his auction this year.”Some of
them just trimmed off their herds, but about a third of them were
complete dispersions – they’ll never be back,” he said.”This county is
looking rough – these 100-degree days are just killing us,” said Gwen
Payne, a North Dakota State University extension agent in Kidder
County, where Steele is located.The Agriculture Department says North
Dakota last year led the nation in production of 15 different commodity
classes, including spring wheat, durum wheat, barley, oats, canola,
pinto beans, dry edible peas, lentils, flaxseed, sunflower and
honey.North Dakota State University professor and researcher Larry
Leistritz said it’s too early to tell what effect this year’s drought
will have on commodity prices. Flour prices already have gone up and
may rise more because of the effect of drought on wheat.”There will be
somewhat higher grain prices, no doubt about it,” Leistritz said. “With
livestock, the short-term effect may mean depressed meat prices, with a
larger number of animals being sent to slaughter. But in the longer run
it may prolong the period of relatively high meat prices.”

Eventually, more than farmers could suffer.
“Agriculture
is not only the biggest industry in the state, it’s just about the only
industry,” Leistritz said. “Communities live or die with the fortunes
of agriculture.”Susie White, who runs the Lone Steer motel and
restaurant in Steele, along Interstate 94, said even out-of-state
travelers notice the drought.”Even I never paid attention to the crops
around here. But I notice them now because they’re not there,” she
said.”We’re all wondering how we’re going to stay alive this winter if
the farmers don’t make any money this summer,” she said.

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July 31, 2006 at 2:24 PM