------------------------------------------------------------   Page 3

Drought

Excerpted with permission from Dakotas Connection, written by Donna Fisher, editor.  Please note this is a publication of the Dakotas Conference, United Methodist Church.

While many of us celebrate the bounty of another good harvest, ranchers and farmers of the West brace for the impact they'll feel long after rains come again.
 
Faith, SD - Drive through the parched West River ranch land from Hettinger to Valentine. Winter is coming, but few ranchers worry about blizzards. Nearly all of the cows that would produce their spring calves are gone.
 
Some ranchers have shipped their remaining cattle south and east where someone else will feed them for the winter. The big October calf sale at Faith Livestock Company, owned and managed by Faith UMC member Gary Vance and his son Scott, runs annually for five days the third week in October. This year the Vance's scheduled only two sale days.
 
The folks at Faith have seen hard times before, but this drought, worse the old timers say than even the Dirty Thirties, promises an enormous financial and demographic impact. How can folks in ranch country survive? Can they keep faith?
 
Scott Vance and his dad market cattle for an area mostly north and west of Faith. He explained the impact of drought-forced liquidation of foundation herds. "In my business, you love to market cattle. We've done our job getting every single dollar that was out there to get, but you're selling cattle for people that don't want to sell. They've liquidated and they do have money now, but they fired themselves from their job next year. They've basically shut the door."  Vance talked about how his neighbors feel. "There's an absolute helpless feeling, no water, no hay, nothing you could do to change this. Rather than watching their cattle deteriorate, they chose to sell."
 
Farmers State Bank loan officer Anne Mackaben described her hopes and fears.  "We're so much more fragile in a community like this.  Our bank's goal is to save as many as possible. It's hit the youngest families harder."  Calves now average $429 head versus $507 last year, she said.  With $100 less on the market plus added expense for the drought, ranchers are taking a double hit.

But older residents are hurting, too, and some of the retirees have moved away. Rancher-businesswoman LaVonne Butler was born in Faith 80 years ago.  The day of our interview she was headed for the bank to get a loan to pay taxes. "I have a younger son out on the ranch - we're all flat broke, every one of us. We just have to sit tight to see if things will get better and if we can't, the job in town is just not going to support the ranch."
 
"Strength, there's got to be lot of it!"  Butler says. She's seen hard times, but always she's met hard times with determination. Her love for the land never waivers.  "I have no desire to move." What is the long range effect on the region and towns like Dupree, Isabel, Bison, Lemmon, and Hettinger?
 
"It's gonna be astronomical," Scott Vance said. "Businesses downtown were seeing the end of the rope anyway; we're gonna feel the effect of this for 3-5 years." 
 
Mackaben says the real recovery curve is more like 15 years. "In a small town everybody is affected: the veterinarian, Gary and Scott at the sales barn, the lumberyard, the parts store, and the little flower shop.  The liquor store does good in hard times, I guess."
 
Why do people stick it out? Tenacity plus a deep love for what they do, Mackaben said. "They're used to hard work and long hours. These guys are amazing, doing a little bit of trucking; probably the husband or wife or both have off-farm income. Their resilience is never 'I'm not doing anything'." 
 
Rev. Muriel Oates serves Faith United Methodist Church as well as a little Presbyterian Church 45 miles south in Marcus. She searches for ways to minister to these families. Oates, Faith UMC member Nancy Vance, and others met weekly for prayer last summer. "They all know that next spring is going to be the complete turning point. They're crying for hope."
 
Oates works with pastors of other denominations and support services in a ministry of presence and support. County extension and agricultural finance counselors supply information and advice. Folks in the Lemmon area organized a food pantry drive and similar support may be needed as the financial crisis deepens.
 
Real ministry takes time, Oates says. "You have to lean up against the truck, don't figure an hour will get what you want done. You have to let them tell you their history. After a couple of hours, some 45-year-old rancher finally says, 'I'm scared'."
 
What Can Folks Outside the Region do:
 
Hands Across South Dakota 
A program is being started called "Hands Across South Dakota." Executives and interested people are beginning to meet to do something to assist those stricken with the drought in South Dakota.  This group will be looking for assistance for ranchers to feed their livestock and to also assist the families who are impacted by this drought.  Dr. Peter Funch is a contact person - Presbytery of South Dakota, 406 S. 2nd Ave., Suite 102, Sioux Falls, SD 57104-6904   (605) 339-1912 or 888-268-7673.