Parched Missouri suffering
Dry weather affecting range of businesses.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) - Pastures are browning and dusty across much of Missouri. On the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, fewer barges can navigate the low water. Water utilities are spending more to get mud out of sluggish rivers.

A severe drought in much of the state is entering its 18th month, and the costs are mounting - even if it is too soon to tally them, experts agree.

The online Drought Monitor of the National Drought Mitigation Center shows ugly swaths of brown and red across the central and southern United States. The National Climatic Data Center said the country appears to be on course to top $1 billion in drought-related losses this year, although it’s too soon for official figures.

There are no estimates for drought damage in Missouri. "It’s yet to be seen," said Judy Grundler from the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

"We’re just extremely dry," said Howard Hardecke, owner of the 400-acre Cedar Vista Ranch in Bolivar, about 30 miles north of Springfield. "Outside, the grass is very, very brown - what grass is there."

Hardecke keeps cows to raise calves he can sell at auction. The cows normally would have greener grass in their pastures, meaning more milk and heavier calves that fetch more at auction. Now, he said, he has to keep them on drying pastures longer and might have to start feeding them hay months before he normally would, which cuts into his pocketbook two ways: Hay is scarce and expensive, and calves don’t gain as much weight when their mothers eat hay.

"You can’t hardly find any hay in this part of the country. We’ll probably have to go to Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia or the Carolinas to find hay," Hardecke said.

Missouri is the nation’s second-leading state in the number of beef cows, with 2.16 million head of cattle, according to the Missouri Beef Industry Council in Columbia.

Brent Bryant, executive vice president of the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, said many ranchers might have to sell cattle prematurely or reduce their breeding stocks.

"Right now, people are hauling water and hay to their animals, which is incredibly costly. In some places, there’s just not a lot of hay to be found," Bryant said.

He said that although cattle prices are still high, selling cattle has larger ramifications.

"So far cow prices are pretty good, but that’s like selling off your factory, and sometimes this is a herd built up over a lifetime," Bryant said.

Farmers and ranchers are the most obvious victims of the drought. But costs come elsewhere, too, from lawn services idled by dormant grass to barge traffic restricted by low water.

"Agriculture is badly affected, but this dryness is transcending into other sectors," said state climatologist Pat Guinan at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Utilities also are among those feeling an impact.

The drought is creating short- and long-term expenses for Missouri American Water Co., the state’s largest water utility, with 460,000 residential and business customers.

Overall, the Missouri River reached record lows for July, said Mike Wells, deputy director for water resources for the Department of Natural Resources. From July 25 to Aug. 3, the Coast Guard limited traffic between St. Louis and Boonville to barges that drafted less than 7 feet, effectively closing the river for more than a week.

"They’re not willing to come onto the river until they know they can navigate without rubbing," Wells said. "We just finally got enough water in the last few days so the companies feel comfortable."

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