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DEADLINE IS FRIDAY AT 4 P.M Vol. 115 No. 29
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JULY 17, 2020
Farmers in Slope and Bowman counties are going through a moderate drought, impacting many of their crops and the local wildlife. PHOTOS/ Brad Mosher
Local counties fighting drought, changing conditions By Brad Mosher
bmosher@countrymedia.net
Southwestern North Dakota is in the middle of a moderate drought. Those conditions, although not as drastic as in other parts of the state, still have a big impact on the agriculture and livestock in both Bowman and Slope counties, according to the NDSU extension agents. The shortfall in precipitation has included Bowman and Slope counties, according to Shelby Hewson, the NDSU extension specialist in Amidon. She also noted that recent thunderstorms have brought some precipitation to the area, but have yet to erase the impact to local crops. “We are still listed in the D1 which is moderate drought,” she said. “Crops and pastures are stressed. Water is stressed. Farmers are encouraged to have a drought plan. The fire danger
increases and grasshopper infestation occurs. “The pond and creek waters are starting to decline,” she said. “That is why we are doing so much water sampling.” A problem some are facing is the possibility of blue-green algae blooms in local bodies of water, Hewson added. “The blooms could cause death to the livestock. We haven’t seen anything yet.” That also means that the local ranchers still have to be aware of the threat and on the lookout for the algae, she added. In addition, people are trying to get their haying done before it dries up any more, Hewson said. “The grazing has been impacted and the grasses are a lot drier. People are trying to get those bales wrapped up as quick as possible, while there is still some green left to it.” It has definitely been less spring rain than normal, she
added. Bowman moderately dry According to Max Robison, the NDSU Extension Service agent for Bowman County, even the moderately dry conditions are causing problems. “On a local scale, we have been drying up. It has raised a lot of concerns with water quality for livestock as far as stock dams and streams go,” he explained. The possibility of algae outbreaks is something the agents are concerned about. “We are asked to come out and a producer asks us to test water for them. We tell them (producers) to keep an eye out for it. The producers are usually responsible for reporting that kind of thing or they will let us know. “This year, with everything that has gone on and the continued push for social distancing, it has changed. “In a typical year, we go out test water and visit with produc-
ers. This year, for everyone’s safety, we follow along with the precautions that are being taken (wearing masks and social distancing). More and more, the producers are just dropping off their water samples at our offices or telling us the location... meeting us at a spot and we’ll just follow them out there,” Robinson explained. “Then we can get out and take water samples, then evaluate what is going on.” There has been an increase in the Bowman County office handling water tests in 2020, the agent said. “There has been an extreme shift from last year’s wet weather. This year, it was really dry in May and June. A lot of those dams and other water sources that are not flowing went downhill quite rapidly,” Robison explained. “Producers are seeing some impact on livestock and they are wanting to take as many precau-
North Dakota sees dramatic jump in active COVID-19 cases
Staff Report
After hitting a high of 670 active COVID-19 cases earlier this year, North Dakota steadily dropped down to 211 cases by mid-June. That downward trend has dramatically changed direction in the past few weeks until it hit 439 in early July, more than doubling the amount of active cases in the state, in just a few weeks. According to Gov. Doug Burgum, the dramatic jump in positives may be tied to increased testing by the state. “It is not necessarily a big increase in the positives … but we are doing more testing and good contact tracing,” he said in his July 8 press conference. “It is returning to those levels that we saw in May.” He added that when the state finds the cases through testing and contact tracing, they could get the people isolated to prevent further spreading of the virus. The governor also said a positive side to the 439 number of active cases is that only 15 were residents in long-term care facilities in the state. “We made it a huge priority in our state to not only protect lives and also livelihoods, but the people who are most vulnerable.... the people who have both age and underlying health conditions. Those folks are often found in long-term care. “That is a fantastic number, so thanks to everybody that works in long term care,” the governor added.
The state has seen a dramatic rise in cases, Gov. Burgum admitted, but still is one of the states that has been less impacted by the pandemic. “One standard that they are using around the world is they are looking at is under five percent with adequate testing for 14 days. North Dakota has been under that level for months and months. Even as we sit here, there are 28 states out of 50 that do not meet the standard of being under five percent in testing for 14 days. “North Dakota is well positioned and has been well-prepared and we want to keep the string rolling that we have got going here. That is a team effort that requires everyone,” he said. In the July 8 press conference, the governor announced that the state 360 positive cases in the previous seven days, bringing the total positives to 3,971 since the pandemic hit the state in early spring. The state had tested 115,839 people since the starts, giving the state a 3.4 percent positive rate for all of the individuals who have been tested. For tests in the previous seven days, the state had a 1.5 percent positive rate for completed tests. The governor said the state had dropped below one percent in positive tests earlier. “That would have been the best in the nation-type performance. We pulled it up a little bit because we have had a couple of days here where we have topped just over two percent on the positive rate. “When you are this low, there is not much place to go, but we want to keep it low. In North Dakota, we are very fortunate to be in our position. “We want to make sure that all of us together continue to remain vigilant and work together to avert this threat that we have to both our economy and to lives,” he said. The governor praised North Dakotans “for doing an excellent, excellent job” in the fight against the Coronavirus. He also said that if the state had been submitting its test statistics nationally, it would have been in the top spot of the nation in terms of tests per thousand, with the 27,000 tests per 100,000 statistics. When it comes to the need for serial testing in the state, Gov. Burgum said that is important to do repeat tests on people who work in long term care at least weekly. “That is the way we protect those residents and keep those numbers down. “In traditional health care, outside of long term care, where people are getting exposure, a number of those folks are being tested on a more regular basis.” The governor also stressed that the state has had 3,447 recover from the Coronavirus, while 85 people have died and 26 were still hospitalized as of July 8. Four people from Cass County died in the previous week that had underlying health conditions, while one woman in her 80s died in Stutsman County that had no underlying health conditions, the governor said. “That is the second case recorded in North Dakota where someone has passed with COVID without other underlying health conditions.”
tions as they can to make sure that they won’t have any negative impacts.” According to Robison, there is concern about the wheat crops in the county. “With the lack of moisture, there is some that have stunted off pretty bad. It doesn’t have the moisture to do really well. “There are quite a few variables. Planting date plays a role... and what crop was there the previous year,” he said. “That plays a role in how the current crop is doing.” Weather has had an impact locally for several years, he explained. “In wheat, they were not able to harvest last fall. There is disease issues and sprout, wheat that wasn’t harvested last fall that was still standing this spring. “Depending how that was handled and managed, that created issues for the crop this year. “It is hard to get a really good
chemical kill on those sprouted grains or the grains that were left that set seed again,” he said. “There is so much crop debris out there. If it was tilled under, you’ll have some wheat trying to grow back in there. “If you followed it with sunflowers or legumes, you could spray chemicals to try to kill any volunteer weed that was coming up that would disrupt the current crop,” the extension agent explained. “I’ve heard a lot of the fields that were wheat last year, that they have come back in with a different crop,” Robison said. Canadian Thistle is also proving to be a problem for local growers. “There was enough crop debris to protect those Canadian Thistle seed so they started growing. “It looks like almost all of the producers in our area have done a really good job of getting after
See DROUGHT Page 3
State makes change to COVID unemployment program
North Dakota will be changing how it handles unemployment claims, the state’s governor announced in a press release July 8. Gov. Doug Burgum signed an executive order July 8 that will restore the work registration and search requirements for individuals seeking unemployment benefits, and would become effective on July 26. The requirements had been suspended March 13 to expand unemployment eligibility as businesses were closed during the COVID-19 crisis. Under the guidelines, all people seeking unemployment – including those related to COVID-19 – will be required to register for work and conduct an active work search. “The suspension of registration and work search requirements was always meant to be temporary. Reintroduction of these requirements will assist employees and employers to return to work and continue a North Dakota Smart Restart. Job Service North Dakota will continue working with individuals receiving benefits on a case-by-case basis to make sure they receive the assistance they need and that we are protecting the lives and livelihoods of all,” the governor announced in a press release. “Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, Job Service North Dakota has received an unprecedented number of unemployment insurance claims. In total, North Dakota workers have filed 97,178 regular unemployment claims. An additional 19,689 North Dakota workers have filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and 20,218 have filed for Pandemic Unemployment Emergency Compensation (PUEC). Nearly $568 million in benefit payments have been made since March 15.”
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