Northwest Montana farmers respond to extreme drought

Northwest Montana agricultural producers are adapting this summer as they deal with the most extreme drought that the region has experienced in more than 20 years.

Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a statewide drought disaster July 1. Recently the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated Flathead and Lincoln counties primary natural disaster areas as well, further highlighting the dry reality facing Northwest Montana.

Vegetable and fruit farmers are buying opaque shades to block the intense heat from the sun, flower farmers chose to only grow flowers that thrive in heat and dry-land farmers are having to find water sources elsewhere.

“Is this our new norm? I don't know. Who does? I don't think anyone knows. But weather is a factor in the agriculture community that can either be very positive or negative,” said Mark Lalum, the general manager of CHS Mountain West Co-op, an agriculture service center in Kalispell.

After an early spring runoff, a low snowpack and low water levels in lakes and rivers around the area, valley farmers are shifting to a new pace of farming – one that channels resilience and planned intention.

While most of northern and western Montana are considered to have abnormally dry conditions, the northwest corner of the state, mainly Flathead and Lincoln counties, is experiencing severe drought with conditions bordering on extreme, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Flathead County alone is experiencing the fifth driest year to date over the past 129 years, according to the drought monitor, with low streamflow conditions and limited precipitation.

Year to date, Kalispell has received just 5.23 inches of precipitation, about half of the normal amount. The Flathead River at Columbia Falls on Friday was flowing at 3,640 cfps, well below the normal rate of 7,130 cfps. The streamflow on the Fisher River in Libby was about half the typical rate, as well.

“Plants require a certain amount of water to reach their level of maturity,” Lalum said. “When you cut back that water, then it really restricts the plants' capability of doing what it needs to do.”

This year is particularly tough because the drought began so early in the season, Lalum said. Farmers are experiencing an increase in costs for irrigation, limiting their end-of-year yield, but are also developing some important techniques for dealing with this summer’s reality.

Raven Ridge Farm is a small, locally owned farm in Kalispell that produces organic vegetables and fruits. Sitting on 3 acres, the farm relies on irrigation.

“With our current system, we definitely have had some issues,” said Cassady Daley, co-owner of the farm. “Our water pressure isn’t high enough to fully irrigate.”

Usually, Raven Ridge finds some reprieve in rainfall, but that never came with this summer’s dry conditions. As a result, the farm has had to change their irrigation pattern as they can only water one line at a time.

“We’re also a few weeks ahead of normal,” Daley said. “Everything’s happening a little earlier this year.”

Daley had to put up shades on the farm’s greenhouse windows to protect the fruit crop, something she had never done before.

“It is always interesting, every year is so different. Being able to be flexible and deviate from the plan based on what is happening with the climate is so important,” Daley said.

At Mountain Prairie Flower Farm in Whitefish, preparation before the heat came was essential for the business both physically and economically.

“Looking ahead at the summer, I kind of chose to grow varieties of flowers that would thrive better in a warmer, drier climate,” said Mountain Prairie owner Elizabeth Seymour.

These include sunflowers, sweet peas, sweet williams, strawflowers and dahlias.

The flowers love the heat, according to Seymour, as long as she can keep enough water on them. She said the farm has not noticed a difference in irrigation this year, contrary to many others, because of the high water table and low elevation of the property.

“I know gardeners and farmers just a few miles away from me with almost completely different climates and effects though,” Seymour said.

Steve Streich, a potato farmer at Streich Farms in Kalispell, has also had a seemingly good growing year despite challenges in rerouting irrigation out of the sloughs and into different wells. It’s important to know how to find a workaround from your traditional methods, Streich said.

“You take a dry year… we’ve just had to irrigate a lot more,” he said. “Our crops are OK at this time, we’ve just had to work harder to get water.”

ISSUES WITH water and water levels have been at the forefront of Northwest Montana for weeks, as both Flathead and Whitefish lakes experience record low levels, further lowering the levels in the rivers as well because the spring runoff came so early.

“It pretty much caught everybody by surprise,” said Mark Lalum with CHS.

Patrick Mangan, the Flathead Reservation Agriculture Extension Agent at Montana State University Extension, noted that the drought has created a large deficit toward Lake County and Flathead County for quite a while. Rain-fed systems, which can be found across the valley, just didn’t have a lot of soil moisture to promote growth.

In June, there was a 2-inch deficit in rainfall, this spring totals four inches down, Mangan said. Irrigated lands, contrary to dry lands, get a little bit of grace as they don’t rely on that rainfall quite as much.

Further, the effects of drought can be long-standing. It is important to have fall moisture so plants can carry that moisture through the winter. If Montana experiences a dry fall without soil moisture, that can really impact the success of all crops, he said.

Mangan also pointed toward the lack of grazing land as wildfires burn grass and brush around the region, further impacting livestock growers, as well.

“All of these things come together and play on one another,” Mangan said. “So yeah, drought’s not fun.”

Economic injury disaster loans are now available in Flathead and Lincoln counties after the recent federal designation by the Department of Agriculture. These include programs such as the Livestock Forage Program, the Emergency Conservation Program and the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program.

The drought impacts nonfarm businesses as well, such as lake-reliant businesses that are taking a significant financial hit due to lake levels and the lack of water.

Due to this hit, small, nonfarm businesses in 10 Montana counties are eligible to apply for low-interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The loans offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by drought in mainly Flathead and Lincoln counties, with consideration of Glacier, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Missoula, Pondera, Powell, Sanders and Teton counties.

“[This] eligibility covers both the economic impacts on businesses dependent on farmers and ranchers that have suffered agricultural production losses caused by the disaster and businesses directly impacted by the disaster,” wrote the Small Business Administration director Tanya Garfield in a press release.

Eligibility for the loans is based on the financial impact of the disaster. Applicants can apply online at https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/. The deadline to apply for economic injury is April 1, 2024.

RESILIENCE IN farming is essential to make it over time, according to Seymour and Daley.

Hans Helmstetler, with Snow Country Gardens, a vegetable farm with three locations across the valley, came to terms with the reality of the situation as soon as it happened.

“It’s definitely a challenge but it’s a part of farming,” Helmstetler said. “Unfortunately, I think this might be the new normal and we’re all going to have to change the way we think about it.”

An important way to do that is through diversification, according to Karen Sowers, the executive director of the Pacific Northwest Canola Association. Canola is a popular crop to grow in the valley, known for its bright yellow fields.

While the plant itself does well in hot weather because of its long tap root, extreme temperatures can prevent the flowers from opening, hindering their harvest. However, canola is known as a cash crop, for growing it helps set up a better-growing environment for the following year where farmers place wheat or another grain in its place.

Diversification of what plants are grown, Sowers said, is a way to help increase a farm’s pliability.

“Call it climate change or whatever, but I think farmers are going to have to be looking for alternatives going into the future,” Sowers said.