Drought Survey
AFBF Survey Assesses How Farmers and Ranchers are Dealing with Drought
-According to the July 29th release of the National Drought Mitigation Center’s U.S. Drought Monitor, nearly 80% of the West plus North and South Dakota are categorized as D2 (severe drought) or higher. This is an increase from 68.5% the week of June 17 and a big jump from the 22% of the West designated as D2 or higher during the third week of July last year. Over 90% of the land area in Arizona (95%), California (95%), North Dakota (97%), Nevada (95%) and Utah (100%) qualify at or above the D2 level.
The 11 states in the Western region, plus the Dakotas, are vital to the U.S. agricultural sector, supporting one-third, or $112 billion, of total U.S. agricultural production by value. This includes 28% of cattle and cows responsible (in total) for 18% of U.S. agricultural production by value; 40% of dairy production responsible (in total) for 11% of U.S. agricultural production by value; and over 70% of vegetables, fruits and tree nut production by value. Continued drought conditions put production of these commodities at risk, along with the stability of farms and ranches reliant on their crops and livestock for income.
