Farms continue struggling with drought

Some areas in the Missouri Ozarks are more than 12 inches behind normal levels for the year, according to the National Weather Service. Add to that the drier-than-average conditions last year and it’s a recipe for disaster – especially in an area dominated by beef and dairy cattle operations.

“(The animals) don’t want to eat. If they can’t get cool during the night, they won’t be able to produce. They’re just working to try to stay cool, and they can’t do it,” said Vickie Kensinger, co-owner of Memory Lane Dairy in Fordland.

Even if cattle did want to eat, there’s not an abundance of food available for them.

Pasture conditions were rated as poor or very poor in 78 percent of southwest Missouri, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service’s Missouri Field Office, and supplies of hay and other roughage were inadequate in nearly two-thirds of the area.

The NWS Climate Prediction Center doesn’t hold much hope for the immediate future, either – precipitation is expected to be below normal over the next month, and the three-month forecast predicts only average precipitation levels.

Family farming operations are included in the Family Business In Focus, which will be in the Aug. 14 issue of SBJ.