Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
Ranchers in Hill County have some extra time to apply for a program that would help them pay for providing water for livestock to replace water sources that have dried up, the Hill County Farm Services Agency executive director said Monday. Mike Zook said the release date of the announcement of the opportunity in Hill County did not give producers much time to sign up, so the the county asked for and was given permission to extend the deadline to July 7. “A number of people were not aware in a timely fashion,” Zook said. “We want to give them an opportunity to sign up.” While heavy rains in late May and early July helped with water issues, producers are still having problems, he said. “I have been out to sites where springs are drying up,” Zook said. The Emergency Conservation Program, with the deadline for application in Hill County originally set for June 20, would help with a cost share for providing a new source of water for livestock in an area where water previously had consistently been available but no longer has a viable water source. Zook said the heavy rains in the area in May and early June have helped, but there are still problems and the future is up in the air. “These are quite a few people who had some positive results because of the rains. There finally was some runoff when we got those last few showers,” Zook said. The turnaround in May and early June was dramatic. At the recording station in Havre, on May 1 the area had recorded 1.28 inches of rain less than average for the year and 2.33 inches of rain less than average for the water year, which starts on Oct. 1. The water year is typically considered the period when hydrological systems are at their lowest point and begin the process of regeneration. By June 14, Havre had received enough rain to turn the numbers around, showing 1.51 inchEs above average for the year and .46 inches above average for the water year. That also turned around the drought monitoring conditions and forecasts. The state Governor’s Drought Advisory Committee Drought Status map for June listed only one county in drought Sheridan County was listed as severely dry, with Blaine, Roosevelt and Richland counties the only locations in the state under drought alert with a moderately dry status. Much of the state was listed as no drought or slightly dry, with Hill, Chouteau and Liberty counties among the locations in the latter status. That was a sharp change from the May listings, where most of north-central Montana was listed as in drought with a severely dry status or on drought alert with a moderately dry status. Hill, Blaine and Chouteau counties were all listed as severely dry. The U.S. Drought Monitor map for June 24 listed 3 percent of Montana in moderate drought, with 17 percent of the state listed as abnormally dry and 80 percent with no drought. That compares to the listings three months ago when 38 percent was listed as in moderate drought and 15 percent was in severe drought. At the start of the water year on Oct. 1, 42 percent was listed in moderate drought, 33 percent in severe drought and 9.5 percent in extreme drought. But there has been a dry spell once again since mid-June. The total in Havre reported today dropped from receiving 1. 51 inches above normal on June 14 to receiving .52 inches above average for the year, and had once again dropped below average for the water year, receiving .53 inches less than normal. Zook said agricultural producers are waiting to see what the next months will bring. The forecast does not call for a large amount of rain. The National Weather Service forecast for the Havre area for the next five days shows highs in the 80s and 90s and a slight chance of thunderstorms over the weekend. Those storms could also produce other problems Zook said hailstorms on June 1 and June 17 already damaged some crops in the county. The eight- to 14-day forecast calls for above normal temperatures and near normal precipitation, with the normal temperatures including highs in the mid- 70s to mid-80s. The forecast from July through August listed on the U.S. Drought Monitor predicts about average temperatures for Montana with below average precipitation for most of the state. While some livestock producers did get water supplies rejuvenated after the rains, Zook said, not all were so lucky. “I think it can be best described as caused by the lack of snowfall,” Zook said about the water shortage. “We haven’t had that for quite some time and we’re not getting a recharge on the aquifers.” He said the cool, wet May also slowed down crop growth, which could lead to problems depending on the next few weeks’ weather. Zook said one problem is with the hay crops producers are telling him the weather put the harvest as much as three weeks later than normal, and they are concerned that if hot, dry weather sets in it could hurt the yield. “It’s got to make up for lost time and I don’t think it’s time that it has,” he said. He said grain crops are also maturing late, with most producers saying they won’t start harvesting until the end of the month, a week or two later than usual Most of the crops he has seen are not looking bad, Zook said, with the final yield again depending on the weather in the next month or two. “I was pleasantly surprised,” he said. “By and large they looked good, if we get a shot of rain around the Fourth.”
