The milo Kelsey Bates and her husband put in the ground later in the year has not received much rain on their farm in Mutual.
"Luckily, we've planted a variety that was developed in West Texas and what it does, basically, is when it's stressed, it goes dormant. It just completely stops growing," Bates said. "And so we have some fields that literally have not changed the way that they looked this entire time because they're just dormant."
They planted the milo – also known as grain sorghum – to help limit costs and to allow their cows to graze on it over the winter. They thought the super El Niño would be here by now, bringing much-needed moisture. Her hope is for the plants to end their dormancy when rain comes, if there is time left in the growing season.
So far, it's the 4th-driest and 3rd-hottest August recorded in state history, according to the Oklahoma Mesonet. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has also declared 61 primary counties and 16 continuous counties as a natural disaster area for drought.
Wheat farmers are waiting for moisture to plant seeds, but summer crops like cotton, corn and soybeans are facing the brunt of the intense weather, said Sumit Sharma, Oklahoma State University Extension Specialist for High Plains irrigation and water management.
Most of Oklahoma is experiencing some sort of drought but it's more intense in the western half of the state, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Sharma said this is the region with most of Oklahoma's agricultural activity.
People in far-flung western Oklahoma do irrigate cropland to produce stable yields, and he said that helps. But it depends on how much water is available.
"Anywhere the dry land crops where they have not received adequate rainfall, or if they have received rainfall but the timing was skewed, have suffered," Shama said. "So dryland crops have suffered for sure. And then anywhere where irrigation capacities could not meet the crops water demand, have also suffered some of them to complete failure."
If dry and hot weather continues, he said, it could delay or hurt next year's wheat crop. But he's hopeful for rains to come later this year.
In western Oklahoma, Bates and her family grow a variety of crops, run an ag service business and raise cattle, and the weather has left its mark across their operation. This week, she said, the farm lost a 400-pound steer because of the heat.
About 17% of Oklahoma's range and pastures are rated good to excellent in the USDA's latest Crop Progress Report. Because pastures lack water to grow plentiful grass for cattle, she said ranchers are bringing in hay ahead of schedule, and there is a shortage of it to begin with.
"We're going to be short on hay going into winter," Bates said. "Add on top of that, we're already starting to feed hay when usually we don't have to start feeding hay until October or November."
If winter brings wet and cold weather, ranchers will have to bring in more hay which Bates said will add to already high input costs.
She said some producers are selling their cows and downsizing. But the national cattle herd is the smallest it's been in decades while consumer demand holds strong, causing beef prices at the store to soar.
Although the extreme weather has an immediate effect on farmers and ranchers, Bates said it will eventually reach consumers.
"It's going to trickle down to the consumer because we're going to have less beef, less products, less grain, less everything," Bates said. "It might start with the farmer, but it will trickle down to the consumer."
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
