News

Drought drying up forages

Prospects for adequate forage supplies the rest of the year are drying up in drought-stricken parts of the Midwest.

Michelle Mouser runs a registered Hereford cow-calf operation along with her husband and children in northern Minnesota.

“There’s a lot of people who are selling cows and worried that they’re not going to be able to feed throughout this winter, and watching different prices of (feed).”

She tells Brownfield conditions in her area are rapidly deteriorating.

“We are right at the crux where if we could get some rain right now and a good amount, we may have a second crop (of hay). But there’s a lot of crops that never even germinated in our area, including our own.”

Last week’s U.S. Drought Monitor shows parts of northwest, southwest, and south-central Minnesota suffering from severe drought.

Mouser is president-elect of the Minnesota Cattlewomen’s Association.