Mother Nature has slapped Minnesota farmers in the face this year.
A severe drought has dried up hay harvests, leaving many farmers and cattle ranchers in the dust and spurring a multipronged government reaction that includes, among other things, easing truck driver hours-of-service requirements.
‘This is the first time I’ve ever seen it like this.’
Minnesota Commissioner of Agriculture Thom Petersen told FreightWaves, “We had a one-two punch this summer.” “It wasn’t only that we didn’t get any rain; we also had these scorching hot days. We had a lot of days that were over 90 degrees. It was quite hot and dry.”
Late August and early September saw little rain, but Petersen claimed it was too little, too late. The harm had already been done.
“Right now, the crop is coming to an end. The weather will begin to cool. Even having rain today is too late for a lot of Minnesota,” Petersen lamented.
Since early June, the entire state has been in a drought, with varying degrees of severity depending on where you live. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, “extreme drought” has been spreading across the northern half of Minnesota in recent weeks, with 8% to 10% of north Minnesota experiencing “exceptional drought,” the worst category.
According to Petersen, farmers in some sections of the state perform up to four hay cuttings per year, but many were lucky to do one or two this season. To make matters worse, Minnesota’s hay inventories began the season at their lowest level since 1950.
Petersen continued, “I’ve been doing drought calls with ag stakeholders for about three months now, so it’s been a long summer for sure.”
(Photo: Minnesota Department of Agriculture)
Since early July, Petersen, who owns a farm in northern Minnesota, has met with farmers around the state. Hay growers have been hurting, but so have the 2,000 dairy farmers in Minnesota who rely on hay to feed their cows.
According to Petersen, the drought has forced scores of dairy farmers to close their doors. The ramifications can be felt all the way up the supply chain. According to a recent post on the Beef2Live website, milk cows are an essential element of the state’s economy, and Minnesota is a significant producer of them.
“It’s the feed store, the sales barn, and the agronomists,” says the narrator. Petersen continued, “There are just so many different things that a feed supply helps sustain.” “The money that circulates in communities… livestock is beneficial to the economy and the environment. We’re looking for pastureland and hayland. In that situation, any farmer we can preserve is extremely beneficial.”
According to Petersen, Minnesota farmers are generally self-sufficient and tenacious, but the current scenario has many of them throwing up the towel.
“A lot of farmers have been forced to sell their dairy herds due to the drought,” Petersen added. “Our local auction barns, especially in northern Minnesota, have experienced quite substantial sell-offs.”
For the past 40 years, Neil Peterson has been a hay farmer. He’d usually be on his third cutting by early September, with each cutting delivering 700 to 800 1,800-pound round bales. He only accomplished one cutting for a total of 104 bales due to the drought, a half-ton per acre compared to 3 12 to 4 in an average year.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. Peterson commented, “I’ve seen it dry before, but never like this.” “Even in drought years, we would still have a great first cutting crop,” says the farmer.
In St. Hilaire, Minnesota, Peterson’s farm generally gets plenty of rain, but the drought has caused him to lose $50,000 in hay sales this year. This, he noted, is a lot for a 1,000-acre farm where hay accounts for 30 to 35 percent of the revenue.
Some of Peterson’s other crops have also failed, so he has resorted to chopping and baling his oats for hay to feed his son-in-farm law’s cows.
Peterson and his family have employment off the farm, so they should make ends meet. However, this is not the case for some of their friends who have been almost begging for hay.
Intervention by the state and the federal government
Petersen and the state have urged struggling farmers to attend hay sales and have posted a link to these auctions on the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) website.
State grounds that can be mowed for hay and grazed by cattle have been opened, and the state has unlocked zero-interest loans and is working on a possible rescue package. In mid-August, US Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack paid a visit to Minnesota. Vilsack is working on a government relief plan, according to Petersen.
Some farmers have acquired hay from other sections of Minnesota and neighboring states, where the drought isn’t as bad.
Hay on Neil Peterson’s farm in St. Hilaire, Minnesota. (Photo: Neil Peterson)
In late July, Gov. Tim Walz issued an executive order relaxing hours-of-service requirements for truck drivers carrying emergency amounts of hay into Minnesota, easing the burden on farmers. As the crisis worsened, Petersen later campaigned to expand the presidential order to cover cattle, water sources, and commodities used for or in animal feed.
“We added livestock because farmers in northern Minnesota are sending cattle to graze in southern Minnesota. Cattle are currently being moved to sales barns across the state, according to Petersen. “We thought it was critical, and it was one final item farmers didn’t have to worry about.”
Petersen went on to say that transporting hay is exceptionally competitive, owing to a driver shortage. Due to many cattle being transferred, truckers will have to wait a long time at sales barns and packing plants. When helping, he wants truckers to be careful and follow the executive order instructions.
Droughts, particularly this one, take a mental toll on farmers, according to Petersen, who added that the MDA has free counselors accessible for any farmers who want to talk.
“[They’re] just waiting for rain every day and watching the crop that they’ve invested so much work in dry up. And then having to sell their herd of cattle that their family may have labored decades to get up on their farm,” Petersen added.
Peterson, the St. Hilaire farmer, sees it all the time.
“Everyone is simply depressed everywhere,” he remarked. “Some of these people’s voices have a desperation to them.”
