Drought Devastating New Mexico Ranchers

It’s been a very tough year for ranchers around the state with record cold temperatures and record drought conditions. Out in cattle country in Stanley, N.M., dusty plains seem almost lifeless. “This year, it’s horrible. We came off a record cold winter into a record dry spring,” Bill King Ranch Foreman Tom Spindle said. The cold put many ranchers in an early hole. The 36-below zero temperature during calving season killed 40 to 50 newborn calves, costing Spindle around $100,000. Then it just stopped raining. Pastures are typically a free food source that helps with the financial bottom line. This year, they’re brown and barren, and it’s so dry across the region that hay is very expensive. Spindle is one fortunate few though because he has a well and can irrigate. “We can grow our own hay. But instead of selling it like we would do on a normal year, this year we are feed it so it’s really hurting our bottom line,” Spindle said. During a normal year, a ton of hay sells for $175. This year it’s selling for close to $300, and the shortage of hay has a ripple effect on a rancher’s entire operation and most ranches in the region...more