Severe drought prompts aid in nearly all of Kansas, half of Missouri

Author: Allison Kite

Almost all of Kansas and nearly half of Missouri are in drought severe enough to trigger a federal program designed to help ranchers who have lost acres of grazing land for their herds, prompting millions of dollars in aid.

Eighty-five of Kansas’ 105 counties are eligible for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s forage program, which offers cash assistance to ranchers in severe, extreme or exceptional droughts. In Missouri, 47 counties were eligible as of last week.

Kansas and Missouri — along with most of the US — have been hit by a stubborn drought that has been declared a state of emergency by two of the state’s governors. Most of southern Kansas is in extreme or exceptional drought.

“You go outside every day and within five minutes your ears, nose and mouth are full of dust,” said Dennis McKinney, state executive director of the Kansas Farm Bureau and a rancher. “It becomes very discouraging.”

Kansas has been in a drought for months. The forage program has been activated in some counties for nearly a year, and all 105 counties are under a drought watch, warning or emergency under an executive order signed by Gov. Laura Kelly.

Counties Eligible for Livestock Assistance

A USDA program that offers drought relief to farmers and ranchers has been activated in 80 of Kansas’ 105 counties and has paid out $47 million this year. In 2021, the program paid out only $1 million.

Counties in red have qualified for 2022.

Map: Allison Kite. Source: US Department of Agriculture. Created with Datawrapper.

Over the summer, dry conditions prompted Missouri Governor Mike Parson to issue a drought warning for 53 Missouri counties south of the Missouri River. Within weeks this summer, 40 counties became eligible for the USDA program. Another handful joined them earlier this month.

In Kansas, McKinney said, the service ended its fiscal year last month by processing more than 7,700 requests for assistance, totaling more than $45 million.

The cash assistance helps ranchers whose grass has dried up to buy hay to feed their cows or lease pastures.

A year earlier, McKinney said, only the northwest part of the state was in serious drought. In a normal year, his office processes fewer than 1,000 claims for less than $1 million.

Counties Eligible for Livestock Assistance

A US Department of Agriculture program offering drought relief to farmers and ranchers has been activated in 46 Missouri counties, primarily south of the Missouri River.

Counties that met the requirements this year are in red.

Map: Allison Kite. Source: US Department of Agriculture. Created with Datawrapper.

The current drought is not yet as bad as the record drought of 2012 that killed a million cattle in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma, but if things don’t change, they will be, McKinney said.

He didn’t have figures on how many cattle died because of the drought, but McKinney said many more were sent to slaughter because ranchers ran out of grass and didn’t want to pay high feed prices.

“Some ranchers are determined to maintain their herd base and feed through this drought,” McKinney said, “because they know that replacement, later rebuilding with the right genetics is very expensive.”

McKinney said ranchers are experiencing severe stress, and his agency is asking county offices to post information about community mental health centers and prepare to distribute information on a new 9-8-8 suicide and crisis line.

“If you’re struggling, you’re not alone,” he said, “and it doesn’t mean you’re a bad producer.”

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