Drought & Ag
Impacts of the Current Drought on Local Ranchers
Anyone driving through Grand or Summit County will undoubtedly notice the impacts of the current drought on our landcape. Low reservior levels, crispy, brown vegetation, and hot, dry, windy weather are all unmistakeable signs of the persistent drought.
Though water restrictions have been in effect for many residents for much of the summer, a common question I hear, is...
Why do I have to limit my outdoor watering on my lawn and garden when I see ranchers using flood irrigation to water their fields full of lush green grass?
Before I get into the impacts of drought on the local ranchers, let's dissect why ranchers need water and your lawn/garden doesn't (in times of drought)...
- Do you eat food? If so, you can thank a rancher or farmer for that nourishment. Food, whether plant or animal, requires water to grow and thrive. Food does not "come from the grocery store"; it comes from a rancher or farmer. Think about that when you eat dinner tonight.
- Do you have a job that provides you income to put food on your table, a roof over your head, and fuel in your car? If so, consider yourself blessed to have an external source of income that keeps you afloat. Ranchers and farmers' income is tied to the land they live on and the water that flows through it.
- Would not watering your lawn or hobby garden result in a loss of income to you? Most people do not rely on their lawn and garden for financial stability or their livelihood. Ranchers and farmers do. When crops and hayfields are dry, it directly impacts their pocketbooks and their lives.
- If the current drought is causing you financial harm, will that financial harm carry into future years even if climate conditions change and the drought ends? For ranchers and farmers, financial losses due to drought have impacts that last for several years. Studies show that drought-stricken irrigated fields that reeive little to no supplemental water can take three or more years to fully recover their pre-drought productivity. Additionally, when ranchers are forced to sell their breeding livestock, they are losing several years of future income from the calves, lambs, kids, and piglets that would have been born (and sold) from those breeding animals.
Now, let's review the impacts of drought on local ranchers
MPCD recently sent a survey to agricultural producers in Grand and Summit Counties. Twenty-three producers responded with their anecdotal observations.
- 95% of respondents grow grass hay and 87% raise cows.
- According to respondents, other ag products grown in Grand and Summit Counties include: sheep and goats, pigs, poultry, horses, vegetables, and culinary lavendar.
- 78% of respondents turned their ag water on EARLY due to low snowpack. 13% were not able to turn their water on at all due to low snowpack.
- 84% of respondents reported that their diversion was LOWER than normal.
- Of respondents that are "junior waterright holders", 55% either turned their water off earlier than normal or never got their junior water right because "senior water right holders" took all available water.
- 73% of respondents expect to turn their water off EARLIER than normal due to lack of water or vegetation maturing SOONER than normal.
- 82% of respondents expect to have LESS hay yield than normal. 4% expect to have no hay crop at all.
- 83% of respondents say that their grazing lands are not productive enough to maintain their current herds. Many have either sold stock, supplemented with hay, or started grazing hayfields. When hayfields are grazed, those ranchers lose out on winter feed for their stock, meaning they will either need to buy hay or sell stock before the snow flies.
- 95% of respondents are already feeling the negative financial impact of drought or expect to feel the impact in the near future.
- Producers are experiencing a variety of other impacts such as:
- Increased mental and emotional stress
- Hay cutting business is taking a hit because clients have no hay to cut
- Having to haul stockwater to pastures that historically have water in them
- Lower rate of gain on butcher animals
Drought impacts us all. What we are experiencing today is not likely to end tomorrow. We can all have our own opinions on who and where the water cuts need to be made, but the current water crisis will require a greater sense of understanding, collaboration, and willingness by all. Are there actions ag producers can take to conserve water, YES. Is permanently drying up ag lands the solution, NO!