MPR’s Stephen Smith profiles those in Meeker County as they endure the extreme drought conditions. This part of the state was one hit hardest by the dry weather in 1988.
The dry spell was part of a larger North American drought that ran from 1988-1990. It ranks among the worst episodes of severe dry conditions in United States history.
[SCOOP SOUNDS] STEPHEN SMITH: Feeding time on the Schmitz dairy farm. Aggie Schmitz scoops pellets from a bucket, tossing them to the hungry cows in the barn. Aggie and her husband, Bernard, live in Northern Meeker county the part of the county that suffered most from last summer's drought. Aggie Schmidt says on the hottest, driest days, she wondered if they'd lose their farm.
AGGIE SCHMITZ: I remember different times driving down the driveway and you'd leave the yard and you see your corn field on the left just looked terrible, and you'd really feel tough to come back in the driveway. And it was looking the same way. And it was back on July the 10th. But then two heifer calves had been born while we were gone. And I guess that's what helped to say pull us through because they say you've got the bad with the good and you just have to be able to hold on to the hope and prayer that it's going to get better.
[MOVING TRACTOR]
STEPHEN SMITH: When tractors work the fields in Meeker County. Last summer they churned up some of the driest land in Minnesota. The drought hit hard in this part of the state. The corn and bean crops withered to about half their normal size. Meeker County agricultural extension agent Dave Schwartz says if the drought drags on for another growing season, some farmers around Litchfield will go out of business.
DAVE SCHWARTZ: There'd be lots of farmers in trouble. And not only farmers, small businesses in your rural towns, they're going to have financial troubles.
STEPHEN SMITH: Schwartz says many farmers made it through last summer on the strength of good earnings and crop surpluses, brought in the year before. The federal drought relief bill also pumped $12 million into Meeker County. But next summer, those financial cushions will be gone. Schwartz says more farmers are signing up now for federal crop insurance.
DAVE SCHWARTZ: They're getting prepared, maybe for the worst, but I think in most cases farmers are optimistic too, and they think we're going to get rain. And I'm quite confident too. But just in case the rainfall doesn't come, they've got something to rely on.
[TRACTOR MOVING]
STEPHEN SMITH: The intersection of highways 12 and 22 is the hub of Litchfield. The sound of trucks grinding past mixes with the steady whine of a tall grain elevator across the road. Farmers from across Meeker County and beyond drive here to shop and buy supplies. Litchfield's economy doesn't depend entirely on agriculture. There are several industries in town employing a fair number of the 6,000 residents. Even so, Main Street felt the drought. Litchfield Mayor Ron Johnson says that during the hot, arid days of last summer, he could tell that farmers were losing much of the financial ground they'd struggled to make up after the farm crisis of the early 1980s.
RON JOHNSON: I am not that close to [? Egg ?] community, but you can just sense walking on Main Street that things were tight. I don't think it was devastating. I think things a couple of years ago were more devastating, but things were tight.
SPEAKER: This tractor is a 4,630 that's about 12 years old. And we're going to put a bunch of work into the transmission. We're going to overhaul the engine. And you'll spend about $5,000 fixing that tractor up. And then it'll be--
STEPHEN SMITH: Ken Johnson was one of the first Litchfield merchants to feel the impact of the drought. He owns the John Deere implement dealership in town. His repair shop is booked solid with work on tractors and combines. But four of the six farmers who bought new tractors last spring canceled their orders when the drought hit. Ken Johnson says that because farmers and farm businesses had already survived the farm crisis of the early 1980s, they were quick to respond to the drought.
KEN JOHNSON: One of the things that happened is we were already lean. We weren't used to as much. So it probably hasn't hurt us as much because we didn't have the overhead. We'd already cut the overhead back.
STEPHEN SMITH: Townsfolk say the general feeling of gloom among farmers in Meeker County made the 100 degree days of summer all the more oppressive. But Ken Johnson says fall harvest time brought back some optimism.
KEN JOHNSON: They got a better crop than they thought. I mean, I really don't understand why we got 25 bushel beans, I really don't. With the rain we had, we had no business getting that good a bean crop. I don't know how we got 70 bushel corn, but they're happier. And this sounds crazy, but they're happier with that 70 bushel corn crop and a 25 bushel bean crop this year than they are some years with a real good crop because they didn't think they were going to get anything.
STEPHEN SMITH: The hopeful feeling continues as the winter storms move into the region, promising rain and snow. If the ground can manage to sponge up that moisture before freezing, next year could be a normal year. But rural Minnesota towns like Litchfield are waiting to see if the drought of 1988 is truly over. This is Stephen Smith reporting.
[TRUCK MOVEMENT RECEDING]
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