Farmers in the Ozarks rejoice as rains fall on parched land

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - The Ozarks has seen several waves of rain. So, it may strike you as odd that Governor Mike Parson extended a Drought Alert in Missouri on Friday.

That drought alert for Missouri was originally put in place in May of last year, and farmers have been dealing with dry conditions since. Between that and a shortage of essential supplies, USDA experts and farmers say that recent rain is coming from the perfect storm, literally.

“This is a blessing right now for our producers,” said Karen Stillings, USDA Polk and Dallas County executive director.

In the last few years, Missouri has seen less rain than needed, causing a big problem for farmers across the region. Ryan Gettle is a cattle farmer. He raises dairy and beef cows and grows corn and other crops. The other day, he was hard at work wrapping hay and moving crops around in anticipation of the rain that has finally come.

“It’s amazing,” said Gettle. “We’ve been in a drought for what feels like 2 years now, so the rain is very helpful and just makes everything grow, which helps the consumer as well”

Gettle says he’s more than excited to see multiple days of consistent rain. It will mean more growth for hay a good thing for him, and his cows and crops.

Stillings says after last year’s drought, the rain couldn’t have come at a better time for Polk county.

“Last year’s was really hard on the forage production and this is a big hay production county,” said Stillings. “We were probably down about 60% which is a lot for this county. So, a lot of people had to go to other places to purchase hay. So, right now we’ve got grass coming on, it’s slow but it’s coming. Our hay supplies, there’s still some that are, you know, short but we’re at the point now where we can make it. So, and This rain right here is going to definitely going to boost our spring growth for our hay crop.”

Gettle says while the weather is encouraging, in his business, they’re always planning ahead.

“It’ll help everything take off and it’ll be great but as a farmer we’re always two weeks away from another drought.”

The Governor’s office says extending the drought alert will do a few things to help farmers.

Farmers will still be able to get water and hay from select start parks and conservation areas. The Department of Transportation is also still offering permits for wide-loads so hay can be transported more easily. And more than $3.5 million dollars has been set aside to help landowners that could be impacted by the drought.

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