Drought Hits Navajo Nation Ranchers Hard

Windmill blades spin rapidly in the stiff wind above Justin Yazzie’s ranch in Whitehorse Lake, New Mexico, slicing through a clear blue sky smudged at the edges with darkening clouds. Those clouds, though often hovering on the horizon, will not bring necessary rain, said Yazzie, Navajo. “We don’t get rain anymore,” he said. “We just get wind and dust.” Yazzie, 58, has ranched this land since 1978, when he helped his father round up calves and brand them. He took over full time in 1995 when his father died. Five generations have raised cattle on this 4,800-acre plot of land leased from the Navajo Nation, but what once was a way of life now is becoming a dying industry. Yazzie knows this land like an old friend. He measures time by seasons, keeping track of the moisture and height of grass. “Thirty years ago, the grass was up to my knees,” Yazzie said, gesturing at his land, barren from decades of drought. In some places, the grass barely reaches his ankles; in other areas, all the vegetation is gone. Experts are calling weather patterns throughout the southwestern United States the worst drought in half a century, a so-called megadrought. Some experts and ranchers are calling weather patterns throughout the southwestern United States the worst drought in half a century, a so-called megadrought, or a 75-year drought—one that could last for decades or longer. National Geographic in 2007 warned of a “perfect drought” like one that hit the area in the 12th century. Others argue that drought conditions are hard to define in desert areas like the Southwest. The ranching industry boils down to one ingredient: rain, said Shane Hatch, an auctioneer at the Cow House in Kirtland, New Mexico, where Navajo ranchers from a 200-mile radius go to sell their livestock at the end of the season. “Feed grows where the water is,” Hatch said. “If there’s no water, there’s no feed.” For the past several years, Hatch has seen ranchers sell their livestock earlier in the season, and for a fraction of the price that the more robust animals can fetch. Sellers usually wait until September to take their livestock to auction, but drought conditions are forcing ranchers to sell in late July or August. “The weather is making a difference,” said Vicki Atkinson, a brand inspector for the New Mexico Livestock Board. “People are having to sell because they don’t have the grass or feed.”...more