--- title: Drought, Wildfires Force Ranchers To Scramble For Feed | WeatherBug | WeatherBug description: Ongoing drought and wildfires have cattle ranchers in at least five Southwestern U.S. states scrambling for hay or pastureland, while others are selling off some of their herds. canonical: https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Drought,-Wildfires-Force-Ranchers-To-Scramble-For og:title: Drought, Wildfires Force Ranchers To Scramble For Feed | WeatherBug | WeatherBug og:description: Ongoing drought and wildfires have cattle ranchers in at least five Southwestern U.S. states scrambling for hay or pastureland, while others are selling off some of their herds. og:url: https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Drought,-Wildfires-Force-Ranchers-To-Scramble-For og:site_name: WeatherBug og:locale: en_US og:image: https://cms-assets-con.cdn.weatherbug.net/assets/contentitems/d1/d1387588-15d2-4f07-83a6-ef78277ebf62/52e0ce98-d40a-4283-82d1-d0fe816ebf4b/631809c2-0ed3-46e8-b90e-d5acd397e02f.jpg og:image:width: 800 og:image:height: 600 og:image:alt: Cattle are herded into a sale arena at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, April 24, 2018. Ranchers in the Southwest are already running short on food for their cattle as range conditions have deteriorated and warm-season grasses have yet to start growing due to drought. Some ranchers are searching for available pastures and others are considering downsizing their herds. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) og:type: article article:published_time: 2018-04-30T11:17:21Z article:modified_time: 2018-04-30T11:17:21Z article:author: By Ken Miller, Associated Press article:tag: cattle article:tag: cows article:tag: drought article:tag: feed article:tag: "New Mexico" article:tag: Oklahoma article:tag: ranchers article:tag: Texas article:tag: widfires twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Drought, Wildfires Force Ranchers To Scramble For Feed | WeatherBug twitter:description: Ongoing drought and wildfires have cattle ranchers in at least five Southwestern U.S. states scrambling for hay or pastureland, while others are selling off some of their herds. twitter:image: https://cms-assets-con.cdn.weatherbug.net/assets/contentitems/d1/d1387588-15d2-4f07-83a6-ef78277ebf62/52e0ce98-d40a-4283-82d1-d0fe816ebf4b/631809c2-0ed3-46e8-b90e-d5acd397e02f.jpg --- [](/) [Back to forecast](/) # Drought, Wildfires Force Ranchers To Scramble For Feed > Sponsored content. 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The sign-up link is in the footer of every weatherbug.com page. ### Sources * WeatherBug llms.txt: https://www.weatherbug.com/llms.txt * WeatherBug press: https://www.weatherbug.com/press * WeatherBug maps: https://www.weatherbug.com/maps * WeatherBug hurricane center: https://www.weatherbug.com/hurricane/active * WeatherBug education: https://www.weatherbug.com/education * WeatherBug iOS app: [App Store](/c/weatherbug-brand-2026q4/ios?i=fdbf4f75-09b0-4c1c-bdd4-a509ab6fdb73&cr=weatherbug-brand-2026q4-v1) * WeatherBug Android app: [Google Play](/c/weatherbug-brand-2026q4/android?i=fdbf4f75-09b0-4c1c-bdd4-a509ab6fdb73&cr=weatherbug-brand-2026q4-v1) * The Drop newsletter sign-up: [Sign up for The Drop](/c/weatherbug-brand-2026q4/drop?i=fdbf4f75-09b0-4c1c-bdd4-a509ab6fdb73&cr=weatherbug-brand-2026q4-v1) ### FAQ structured data (JSON-LD, optional) April 30, 2018 at 07:17 AM EDT By Ken Miller, Associated Press  OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Ongoing drought and wildfires have cattle ranchers in at least five Southwestern U.S. states scrambling for hay or pastureland, while others are selling off some of their herds. Extreme and exceptional drought conditions have contributed to wildfires in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico, delaying the growth of or destroying grass and wheat used to feed cattle in spring. "Finding hay out here in this part of the state is next to impossible," according to rancher Darrel Shepherd of Custer, Oklahoma, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) west of Oklahoma City. "Pastureland is really hard to find right now ... the wheat, with the drought and all, the wheat is no good." Northwestern Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Panhandle — nearly 20 percent of the state — are rated in exceptional drought, the most severe category. Exceptional drought is also reported in parts of the Texas Panhandle, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and in Utah and Arizona. Federal agriculture officials in New Mexico said ranchers may not have feed to maintain their herd sizes and that some are already trimming their herds, while farmers along the Rio Grande are bracing for less water to irrigate their crops. In northwestern Oklahoma, two large wildfires that burned about 545 square miles (1412 sq. kilometers) destroyed pastures, but rains this past weekend helped firefighters bring the flames under control and began the process of restoring grassland. "This last weekend was a godsend ... not enough to erase the drought," said Oklahoma State University agricultural economist Derrell Peel. "But it's a first step and the time of year is right for the grass to green up in the next few weeks." Rains are needed to continue through at least the beginning of June in order to prevent Oklahoma ranchers from being faced with downsizing herds, Peel said, but even if that happens, he doesn't expect any impact on the price of beef. "I don't think this area is big enough," Peel said. "We're still seeing an increase in beef production" nationwide. Both Shepherd and Woods County Extension Agent Greg Highfill said ranchers in surrounding states are donating as much hay as possible to help keep livestock fed. "Because of the drought there isn't as much extra hay to be donated as in other years," according to Shepherd. "People are being very generous and giving what extra hay they have." Shepherd said he doesn't know where the hay is coming from, but is thankful for what has been provided. "There's a lot of hay from out of state being shipped in. We don't have all we need but we're getting more in each day," he said. "You just can't thank those people enough." Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque contributed to this report. _Image: Cattle are herded into a sale arena at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, April 24, 2018\. Ranchers in the Southwest are already running short on food for their cattle as range conditions have deteriorated and warm-season grasses have yet to start growing due to drought. Some ranchers are searching for available pastures and others are considering downsizing their herds. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)_ We use technologies, such as cookies, to analyze your use (i.e., pages visited), to customize content, for our internal analytics purposes and for security and other purposes. By continuing to use this website, you agree to this usage. Please review our [privacy policy](/legal/privacy) for more details as well as for information on how to contact us to object to these activities. [Ad Choices](/legal/privacy#digitaladvertisingandyourchoices) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.weatherbug.com/news/Drought,-Wildfires-Force-Ranchers-To-Scramble-For"},"headline":"Drought, Wildfires Force Ranchers To Scramble For Feed","description":"Ongoing drought and wildfires have cattle ranchers in at least five Southwestern U.S. states scrambling for hay or pastureland, while others are selling off some of their herds.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://cms-assets-con.cdn.weatherbug.net/assets/contentitems/d1/d1387588-15d2-4f07-83a6-ef78277ebf62/52e0ce98-d40a-4283-82d1-d0fe816ebf4b/631809c2-0ed3-46e8-b90e-d5acd397e02f.jpg","caption":"Cattle are herded into a sale arena at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, April 24, 2018. Ranchers in the Southwest are already running short on food for their cattle as range conditions have deteriorated and warm-season grasses have yet to start growing due to drought. Some ranchers are searching for available pastures and others are considering downsizing their herds. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)"}],"datePublished":"2018-04-30T11:17:21Z","dateModified":"2018-04-30T11:17:21Z","dateCreated":"2018-04-30T11:17:21Z","articleSection":"Weather News","keywords":"cattle,cows,drought,feed,\"New Mexico\",Oklahoma,ranchers,Texas,widfires","articleBody":"OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Ongoing drought and wildfires have cattle ranchers in at least five Southwestern U.S. states scrambling for hay or pastureland, while others are selling off some of their herds. Extreme and exceptional drought conditions have contributed to wildfires in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico, delaying the growth of or destroying grass and wheat used to feed cattle in spring. \"Finding hay out here in this part of the state is next to impossible,\" according to rancher Darrel Shepherd of Custer, Oklahoma, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) west of Oklahoma City. \"Pastureland is really hard to find right now ... the wheat, with the drought and all, the wheat is no good.\" Northwestern Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Panhandle — nearly 20 percent of the state — are rated in exceptional drought, the most severe category. Exceptional drought is also reported in parts of the Texas Panhandle, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and in Utah and Arizona. Federal agriculture officials in New Mexico said ranchers may not have feed to maintain their herd sizes and that some are already trimming their herds, while farmers along the Rio Grande are bracing for less water to irrigate their crops. In northwestern Oklahoma, two large wildfires that burned about 545 square miles (1412 sq. kilometers) destroyed pastures, but rains this past weekend helped firefighters bring the flames under control and began the process of restoring grassland. \"This last weekend was a godsend ... not enough to erase the drought,\" said Oklahoma State University agricultural economist Derrell Peel. \"But it's a first step and the time of year is right for the grass to green up in the next few weeks.\" Rains are needed to continue through at least the beginning of June in order to prevent Oklahoma ranchers from being faced with downsizing herds, Peel said, but even if that happens, he doesn't expect any impact on the price of beef. \"I don't think this area is big enough,\" Peel said. \"We're still seeing an increase in beef production\" nationwide. Both Shepherd and Woods County Extension Agent Greg Highfill said ranchers in surrounding states are donating as much hay as possible to help keep livestock fed. \"Because of the drought there isn't as much extra hay to be donated as in other years,\" according to Shepherd. \"People are being very generous and giving what extra hay they have.\" Shepherd said he doesn't know where the hay is coming from, but is thankful for what has been provided. \"There's a lot of hay from out of state being shipped in. We don't have all we need but we're getting more in each day,\" he said. \"You just can't thank those people enough.\" Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque contributed to this report. Image: Cattle are herded into a sale arena at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, April 24, 2018. Ranchers in the Southwest are already running short on food for their cattle as range conditions have deteriorated and warm-season grasses have yet to start growing due to drought. Some ranchers are searching for available pastures and others are considering downsizing their herds. 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