Drought affects agriculture department

Northwest’s Agriculture Department is feeling the toll this summer’s drought has taken.

“The drought didn’t really get bad until after the planting season, so it was hard to predict,” crop science professor, Tom Zweifel, said. “We started the year with low subsoil moisture which didn’t help, so we were affected by that, but just a prolonged period of heat and no rain.”

The University farm houses beef cattle, dairy cattle, hogs, sheep and pygmy goats.

“The amount of feeding has not changed a lot, but the prices have gone up tremendously,” Kaitlin Hogarth, Northwest dairy assistant, said. “Some of the cows have had to be cut so there can be some profit.”

According to Zweifel, The United States Department of Agriculture has put out a national average of 126 bushels per acre, which is well down from the normal 160 bushels per acre.

The lack of rain has resulted not only in lower crop yields but has also affected hay production.

“Hay will be worth its weight in gold,” Hogarth said. “The animals themselves are going to get cheaper, because there is no available hay and if there is, it is expensive.”

A product of this year’s drought is the success of cover crops used in university fields.

“One of the advantages of cover crops is they shade the soil and help hold moisture that it wouldn’t otherwise,” Zweifel said. “We’ve been able to see some advantages just in areas that we used these.”

Along with continued use of cover crops, the Agriculture Department is considering the use of drought-tolerant crops for future use.

“There are drought-tolerant varieties on the market. they are pretty new and not widely planted in the market. I think that we will be looking at those when there are a little more available and popular,” Zweifel said.

If one part of agriculture is affected by drought, then all of them are, according to Hogarth.

“In agriculture you always try to diversify, and we will continue to do that,” Zweifel said. “In your system you have to build in some flexibility and live with whatever you get.”

 Original Article Here