Farmers more optimistic than last year

According to Montana's official county drought map for May 2018, this part of north-central Montana is at about average moisture for this season, which is positive news for area farmers after a harsh winter and flooding.

Kremlin-area farmer Ryan McCormick said the extremely cold winter caused his spring planting to be delayed about three weeks to a month, while Gildford farmer Justin Miller said the cold weather didn't really impact his crops, but it was hard on calving.

"We had way more calves with frozen ears or tails," he said, adding that they also ran out of hay for the first time in about 20 years.

While not ideal, the state government shows the water situation much better now than it was through last summer.

The May Montana drought map shows Chouteau and Liberty counties as slightly moist while Blaine and Hill Counties are listed as near average.

The United States Drought Monitor map Released June 14 shows the southeast corner of Hill County through most of Blaine County and on to the North Dakota border as abnormally dry, although the recent rains and forecast through the weekend could change that.

McCormick, whose crops include winter wheat, spring wheat, mustard and chickpeas, said his farm land didn't really flood this season but they did encounter some problems moving machinery because of flooding on the roads.

"I feel we came out pretty darn lucky," he added.

Unlike McCormick, Miller, whose crops include chickpeas, black lentils, green peas, durum, and spring and winter wheat, said his farm encountered a lot of flooding.

"When I was seeding this spring, we had 300 acres that we couldn't seed because it was either underwater or too wet," he said, adding that, fortunately, they didn't have to cancel any contracts, but he did have to let some clients know about the issues because they truly won't know the full impacts until harvesting season.

"It is getting back to normal now," he added.

"Interestingly, with as much snow as we had, when we were out this spring, the moisture was, I would say, average at best," McCormick said.

During the summer of 2017, the moisture conditions worsened from July on, leading to a severe drought in much of the state that not only negatively impacted ag producers, but also led to one of the worst fire seasons in the state. Those fires included the fire that started July 3 in the Little Rockies which burned 1,169 acres and led to the evacuations of Zortman and Landusky.

The dry season also contributed to the East Fork Fire in the Bear Paw Mountains which started Aug. 27 and burned 21,896 acres.

The hot, dry summer gave way to a near-record-setting winter of extreme snowfall and bitter cold which led to flooding as the snow melted.

Conditions are better now, but there is no guarantee.

As a farmer, you are always worried about drought, McCormick said.

"Rain this Saturday would be perfect timing for the winter wheat," McCormick said. "This area of Montana, we typically get a lot of heat the last part of June, beginning of July; it can be pretty detrimental to spring crops. Obviously, we don't know for sure if we can have a wet and cool end of June."

"We are in far better shape, I would say, this year at this time, compared to last year, at least we got some rain; last year it was looking pretty bleak at this time. ... The spring crops have a lot of potential this year; the winter wheat is tremendous," he added.

Miller echoed this sentiment saying that he is not as much worried about drought this year, adding that it looks like the area have some rain coming this weekend. For a while, he said, it looked like it was going to be a repeat of last year, but it is starting to look better.

"You have to be optimistic when you are a farmer," Miller said.

"There will be a slow-moving front from Friday night to Sunday," said meteorologist Keith Jaszka from the National Weather Service Great Falls Office.

The Havre area should receive a half-inch to an inch of rain over the weekend, he said, adding that from Monday to Tuesday, scattered rain showers that produce one-tenth to one-fourth of an inch of rain are likely.

It is good news for farmers, Jaszka said.

He added that for next week, Wednesday through June 27, the temperature looks to be above-normal and the precipitation will be lower, but from June 27 to July 4, it looks to be about normal.

"It won't be on either end of the extreme," said Jaszka.

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Online: U.S. Drought Monitor: http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

Montana Drought Management webpage: http://dnrc.mt.gov/divisions/water/drought-management