Click the link to read the article on the Steamboat Pilot & Today website (Elainna Hemming). Here’s an excerpt:
June 12, 2026
Ranchers are constantly adjusting to changing weather conditions and seasonal variations by nature. Jay Fetcher, of Fetcher Ranch in North Routt County, has documented snow melt dates for his hay meadows for each of the 75 years the ranch has been in the family, and said the variation is “incredible.” A year with low snowpack and a warm spring is just another condition to adjust to in the ranching world. This year, dryland hay broke dormancy early in Routt County, meaning cutting has already started, about two or three weeks earlier than usual. The low snowpack is not only generating concerns for ranchers with irrigated hay but water concerns for those with livestock. Despite these problems, the general consensus was that this year is expected to be below average, but not detrimental.
“People with dry land probably can expect some reduced yields, but I will say that the rains we’ve gotten over the last couple weeks have brought on grasses in dry land and pasture situation areas better than I would have anticipated,” said Todd Hagenbuch, the county director and agriculture agent for the Colorado State University Routt County Extension…
The second big concern from the lack of snowpack was water for cattle and other livestock. According to Hagenbuch, the snow runoff fills ponds and streams that the animals drink out of, but this year there’s simply no water in a lot of them. For ranchers whose ponds and streams are not filled, they have to haul water in for the livestock.
“That’s the big issue is adequate water for livestock, and it will be all summer,” said Mucklow. Mucklow is currently not needing to haul water on his ranch, but he personally knows several ranchers who are in that position.
Mucklow also said that there is a federal drought program conducted by the U.S Department of Agriculture that compensates ranchers who have to haul water.
Having drinking water for his cattle was also a primary concern for Fetcher earlier in the season. “It was on my mind as we had no snowpack, and the snow was gone,” said Fetcher. On his ranch, they rely on the streams and springs for the cows in the pastures. Fetcher said the recent rains gave him a significant amount of moisture that eased his worries considerably.
