HELENA — May and June are make-or-break months for Montana farmers and ranchers, as the impacts of drought begin to take their toll, this first week of July.
"Water has a value, and it's invaluable to an irrigator producer," said Marko Manoukian, a farmer and rancher near Malta.
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He knows firsthand the toll drought can take on crops.
"It's too late for the crop," said Manoukian. "We went too long without growing season moisture for them to access, so they're kind of giving it their last shot."
A lack of water this season means his alfalfa fields are struggling, and Manoukian is not alone.
"When you can start to count the number of days over 90 [degrees], especially in a month like June, it's time to get worried," Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) drought program coordinator, Michael Downey, said.
He has been closely monitoring conditions.
South central Montana is faring well, but the Hi-Line and northern Montana are not, as they are currently experiencing moderate to severe drought.
"The difficult thing about Montana is that we're geographically and climate-logically very diverse," said Downey.
Monitoring drought across Montana has also become more difficult.
Downey and the DNRC do it in various ways, including through high-elevation Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) sites and tracking stream gauges.
Field crews also manually measure snowpack and stream levels, but that data is becoming more challenging to get.
"Some of the cuts we've seen to the National Weather Service - it impedes our ability to do our job well," said Downey.
Back in Malta — data or not — Marko Manoukian knows the drought is real.
He could only yield about two round bales from his non-irrigated field, a far cry from the bales he typically sees
"You have to have a little bit of faith and optimism to be in agriculture, because there's going to be something that goes wrong at some point in time, and it's just kind of been in buckets this year with the dry conditions," Manoukian said.
The most recent drought management plan from DNRC is now available here.
