river dry

Wohlers  Ranch is once again suffering a drought year.  The past 2 years have been above average in moisture received, but so far this year we  haven't yet reached 4" of moisture, last year we were at 13" and average is 9".  Plus we have had a lot of hot drying wind.  The pastures are drying down and grass has stopped growing.  We are going to be very short on winter grass and hay costs are double that of 2 years ago (if you can find any at all).  We are already trying to find feed for winter, but may need to sell much of the cow herd.  Of course many ranchers are in the same predicament so naturally  the market for good cows  has dropped considerably.  This is a photo of the Niobrara River near the ranch buildings showing that it quit flowing this week.  The river quit flowing on to the ranch for several months each summer for 4 years during the drought of the last decade which was the only time that happened in the history of the ranch.