http://droughtreporter.unl.edu/

v 2.4.3.0

The drought of 2016 has impacted us in the following ways. I had to move off my spring pasture on May 24, which was two weeks earlier than normal. My spring pasture did not regrow after I moved off, which it would have significantly in a near-normal year. I moved 34 pair to a 600-acre pasture on June 10; that pasture was already brown when I moved in, and the western wheat grass did not even make a seed head. I normally run approximately 35 pair in this pasture from early June until the first of November. I was forced to remove the cattle from this pasture on August 16 due to lack of grass. I have another lease that has four dams on it. Those dams have always held water and provided enough water for 60-70 pair from June to November. This year I had to start pumping water from my house via over-the-ground pipe on June 16 to water this pasture. I normally precondition calves the middle of October and sell calves in early December. This year I preconditioned on August 17 and will sell September 30. I cannot overstate the devastating impacts this drought has had on our area and my operation specifically. I keep track of our rainfall and we have received 6.3 inches for the year. From an agricultural producer in Fall River County, South Dakota, on August 23, 2016