"We're about one-fourth to one-half of normal," said McKenzie County Extension Agent Dale Naze. "Hay and forage are in short supply. This year, we had the drought and frost until the end of June."
An outbreak of the alfalfa weevil and disease also proved bad strikes against producers there.
Cattlemen are taking measures to counter the problem.
"We are seeing more stricter culling of herds. They're selling more cattle," Naze related. On the upside, cattle prices are up for those who cull their herds.
"They would prefer to have rain and grazing, not culling, but that's not the way it is," Naze said.
Also contributing to its crop situation is 5,000 acres of crops being hailed out.
Not all of the county is doing poorly. Naze describes it as a "mixed bag."
"The northeast part of the county is doing best. But as you go west, it tapers off quickly," he said. "North and east of Watford City is doing good. They have excellent crops, good hay and oil seed crops."
Williams County is faring well this season, and is selling hay to other regions that are lacking.
"Our supply of hay is adequate. We'll have a surplus," said Williams County Extension Agent Warren Froelich. "We are shipping hay out of the county."
"About 30 miles outside of Williston you see a lot of trouble. There will be a hay shortage in southwest North Dakota and southeast Montana. Their supply is below normal due to spring drought."
He added there will be plenty of hay here with the opening of Conservation Reserve Program land. About one-third of a landowner's CRP land can be hayed.
"There is hay moving back and forth so there should be no cattle starving," Froelich said.
Some cattlemen from southwest North Dakota are coming here to put up the hay to bring it back to their herds. "A lot of people with CRP land have no haying equipment," Froelich explained.
There is enough hay available to nourish all the cattle throughout the state. "It's a matter of distribution," he said.
Ample supplies of hay also are available in Divide County.
"Haying is terrific here," said Kenny Kvale, manager of the service station for Golden Plains Ag in Crosby. "We got lots of hay. The only exception might be the second cutting of alfalfa that may have been lost to the August freeze."
Kvale said he has seen some square bales trucked out, but said people are concentrating on grain harvests first.
"Haying is terrific," said Divide County Extension Agent Keith Brown. "Except maybe the second cutting of alfalfa, we got lots."
He said names are starting to appear on a Web page site through the extension of producers who have hay available.
"Right now, there are some slough areas that have not been hayed," Brown said.
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