The U.S. drought monitor continues to show areas of western South Dakota are in severe to extreme drought, and that’s taking its toll on cattle producers. South Dakota Stockgrowers Executive Director Silvia Christen says it has been a long time since they’ve received any measurable precipitation and as a result pastures are drying up.

She says many producers are already short of pasture and hay due to the drought.

Christen expects most producers to manage through this crisis, but they are facing other challenges in addition to the drought.

USDA just announced its designated Lawrence, Meade and Pennington counties in South Dakota as primary natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the recent drought.