There’s little doubt that it’s dry

As of Jan. 25, the U.S. drought monitor showed 33% of the country was in some form of drought, according to Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension economist. As farmers begin looking to planting season, concerns are already developing about available moisture, stockpiling forage and the potential for wildfire outbreaks. In the southern half of the U.S., late January rains barely stemmed the area from falling farther behind in moisture. According to the Jan. 25 U.S. Drought Monitor report, the county director for Wagoner and Mayes Counties in Oklahoma reported that all of the winter wheat crop was in either poor or very poor condition, and some producers were selling cattle early due to poor grazing fields. Peel says cattle producers should be planning for the possibility that the current drought conditions will get worse in the coming weeks, and have adequate hay supplies and marketing plans ready. Some farmers in the Southwest have been under pressure since summer 2017, as dry weather lowered yields for hay and soybeans, as well as deteriorating wheat and grazing conditions. Several stations in New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma report they have gone more than 100 days with no measurable precipitation, including Moriarty and Conchas Dam, N.M.,  Amarillo, Texas and Woodward, Okla. Kansas State University scientists and the National Interagency Coordination Center are warning producers in the central and southern Plains there is a higher than normal risk of wildfire through April. While some areas of the U.S. are prone to dry conditions in the winter, the Southeast this is usually the recharge season. But with below normal precipitation amounts, there is little evidence that moisture recharge is occurring.     January 1 Cattle Inventory in the Northwest Region down slightly from Last Year January 1, 2018 all cattle inventory in Alaska, was estimated at 14,000 head, up 8 percent from 2017. All cattle inventory in Idaho, was estimated at 2.40 million head, up 1 percent from 2017. Inventory of all cattle in Oregon was 1.27 million head, down 4 percent from last year. In Washington, all cattle inventory totaled 1.16 million head, up 1 percent from January 1, 2017. Nationally, January 1 all cattle inventory was estimated at 94.4 million head. This was up 1 percent from January 1, 2017. The 2017 calf crop, at the US level, was estimated at 35.8 million head, up 2 percent from 2016.   MONTANA The January 1, 2018 inventory of all cattle and calves in Montana totaled 2.55 million head, down 4 percent from the January 1, 2017 inventory, according to the January 1 Cattle Survey conducted by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. Beef cows, at 1.50 million head, were up 11,000 head from the previous year. Milk cows decreased 1,000 head from last year to 13,000 head. Montana’s 2017 calf crop, at 1.48 million head, is up 2 percent from 2016. Other class estimates as of January 1, 2018 and percent changes from 2017 were as follows: Beef replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, down 8 percent to 390,000 head; milk replacement heifers 500 pounds and over, down 22 percent to 7,000 head; other heifers 500 pounds and over, down 13 percent to 223,000 head; steers 500 pounds and over, down 9 percent to 210,000 head; bulls 500 pounds and over, up 5 percent to 105,000 head; and calves under 500 pounds, down 19 percent to 105,000 head. The total inventory included 45,000 head of cattle and calves on feed, unchanged from last year.