The ongoing drought in the Western Plains is causing significant hardship for farmers and ranchers, with impacts spreading from southern Colorado to Montana, according to a June 2 report. Water supplies are running low, wheat crops are failing, hay production is declining, and cattle producers are making difficult decisions about herd liquidation. While some recent rainfall has offered brief relief in certain areas, many say the damage is already irreversible.
Ben Rand, a crop insurance agent and market analyst at Blue Line Ag Hedge, said the extent of this disaster is unprecedented in his experience. “This is almost something that’s hard to put a border on. It’s so large,” said Rand. He noted that over a million acres of grassland pasture were lost to wildfires in Nebraska alone but emphasized that “the overall drought condition is way larger than that.”
Rand described how irrigation system failures have occurred as far north as Choteau, Montana. He explained that early signs of trouble emerged months ago with sugar beet growers who rely entirely on irrigation: “There are no non-irrigated sugar beets out here,” he said. By late winter, reports from mountain snowpack regions indicated an impending water crisis: “We knew as early or had suspicions as early as February going into March…that we were going to have a massive water problem.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that 69% of the country’s winter wheat crop was experiencing drought by late May.
Wheat yields remain extremely low heading into harvest season. “In the West here, I’m seeing appraisals that are so dismal,” Rand said. “The vast majority of stuff is under two-and-a-half bushel.” Many fields may not be harvested at all due to poor conditions: “What is out there is not mechanically harvestable.” In addition to failed crops and dwindling water supplies—some wells began pulling air before planting even started—cattle producers face shrinking forage supplies and rising feed costs.
Rand described how these shortages have forced immediate herd reductions: “If there was maybe a year where there was a questionable cow…once she loses the calf, she’s leaving the same day.” Hay prices continue climbing amid tight supply across typically productive regions.
As feed concerns grow for later this year and into 2027—not only for livestock but also ethanol plants—Rand urged producers struggling with stress or uncertainty to seek help: “The mental stress of this is unparalleled…If you find yourself in a situation that you don’t know how to handle, there’s tons of resources out there.”
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