Drought conditions force tough decisions for Wyoming ranchers
Drought conditions across Wyoming are forcing ranchers to haul water, reduce stocking rates and reconsider plans for livestock they would normally retain, as limited moisture continues to affect operations across the state.
In southwest Wyoming, Shaun Sims said conditions on his operation are worse than drought monitoring and insurance programs indicate.
“The drought monitor is not picking it up. Pasture, Rangeland, Forage programs are not picking it up,” Sims said. “It is a horrible drought.”
Sims lives near Evanston and runs sheep and cattle across southwest Wyoming, including both Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service allotments. He said reservoirs in the area have fallen extremely low, while some fields have received no adjudicated water. After little snow last winter, Sims entered the growing season already facing limited water supplies.
“This is probably the driest I’ve experienced,” he said.
Those conditions have required management changes throughout the year. Sims leased additional ground where water was available and reduced stocking rates by at least a third on some of his rangeland. Water availability, however, has remained one of the biggest challenges.
“I’ve had a set of cows that every drop they drank until two weeks ago, we’ve hauled to them,” Sims said.
Moving the cattle to water would have meant giving up forage the operation needed, he explained. Instead, they chose to haul water and utilize the available grass.
“Common sense would probably say, ‘Well, take them to where the water is,’” Sims said. “But then we wouldn’t have the feed.”
Lower-elevation BLM ground was particularly susceptible to drought, and Sims said livestock had to be moved off some allotments because the operation could no longer haul enough water to meet their needs.
“We moved as quick as we could off them into some private ground higher up with water,” he said. “But now that’s all dried out.”
PLANS CHANGE
The drought is also changing plans for the livestock themselves. Sims normally retains around 2,000 lambs to add weight before marketing them. This year, he said all of those lambs will be sold.
“We normally keep a couple thousand lambs, grow them up bigger,” he said. “They’ll be lighter, and they’re all going. Every one of them is going.”
The operation is also preparing to begin feeding cattle considerably earlier than normal. Sims said cows are generally able to graze until around January before supplemental hay is needed ahead of calving. This year, feeding could begin as early as October or November.
With hay supplies short, the operation is purchasing equipment to incorporate other feedstuffs into the ration and stretch available hay.
“We’re buying mixers and grinders to mix corn into it so we can stretch our hay farther, which we’ve never done,” Sims said.
Across the state near Moorcroft, Cassie and Tyler Pickrel are facing many of the same decisions at Pickrel Land and Cattle Co., a Red Angus cow-calf operation homesteaded by Tyler’s family in 1916.
The Pickrels said drought has occurred off and on for about a decade, but this year stands apart.
“In my lifetime, it’s the worst I’ve ever seen it,” Tyler said.
One indicator has been the Belle Fourche River. Tyler said he does not remember the river drying up as a child. In recent years, it has regularly stopped flowing late in the summer. This year, it stopped in early June. Water shortages have made otherwise usable pasture inaccessible.
“It doesn’t matter how much grass you have if you have no water,” Tyler said. “There’s nothing you can do about it anyway.”
The ranch has moved cattle out of pastures normally used throughout the summer, drilled additional wells and hauled water. Cassie said three water trucks from their ranch alone are currently running throughout the day to keep livestock supplied.
WILDFIRES COMPOUNDS DROUGHT
Drought has also been compounded by wildfires. The Pickrels estimate four or five fires have burned around 4,000 acres of their ranch this year, including areas normally used for winter grazing.
“We’re dealing with rebuilding a lot of fence right now too,” Tyler said.
The loss of winter grazing is adding another unknown heading into fall. The operation typically does not feed large amounts of hay because it runs below its maximum stocking capacity and leaves grass available for winter grazing.
“But nothing grew around here this year,” Tyler said. “Everything we grazed last summer and fall and winter never grew and replenished.”
For now, the Pickrels said they are largely in “survival mode,” waiting to see what late summer and fall bring before making additional decisions.
Among the most difficult decisions has been what to do with replacement females.
The Pickrels normally select replacement heifers from their own calves each year. This year, they did not brand any replacement heifer calves and instead plan to sell them all. They may also sell the bred yearling heifers currently with bulls.
“The heifers,” Cassie said when asked about the hardest decision the drought has forced them to consider. “It’s been sad for me to consider watching our good breeding lines possibly going down the road because we don’t have anywhere to put them.”
The decision comes as cattle prices remain historically strong.
“Right now we’re selling calves for more than we’ve ever sold them for, but we’re selling less calves than we’ve ever sold,” Tyler said, noting the ranch’s herd has gradually declined through repeated drought conditions.
CONSERVATIVE STOCKING
One factor helping the operation withstand the current drought is a long-standing decision to stock conservatively. Tyler credited his uncle who has managed the ranch for decades, with maintaining the philosophy that giving cattle more country allows both livestock and grass to perform better.
“We’ve always had leftover grass in order to survive things like this,” Tyler said.
Last year, when grass was knee-high, the Pickrels heard suggestions they could be running another 200 head. They chose not to increase numbers.
“Now we’re looking back and thinking, thank God we didn’t,” Cassie said.
Across the state, the drought has made decisions that are normally part of ranch management considerably more difficult.
“There’s a lot of management decisions, stress that goes with this,” Sims said. “You have an obligation to make sure your livestock are watered and fed, and it is becoming quite a challenge to run livestock in southwest Wyoming because of the drought.”
“Eventually it will rain,” Cassie said. “We’ve been doing it for over 100 years, and they’ve survived worse.”
