Dwindling hay supplies. Poor-quality hay. Ponds drying up. University of Missouri Extension livestock specialist Elizabeth Picking has seen it all in southwest Missouri this summer.
Feeding cattle has been a challenge as the effects of severe drought take hold across much of the southern part of the state. But dry conditions are not out of the ordinary for the region.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, Missouri has seen droughts of level D1 or higher in 20 of the past 23…