Low spring runoff and below-average precipitation could lead to access issues for adequate, good-quality water for livestock this spring. NDSU Extension Veterinarian Jake Galbreath says they’ve received multiple reports of water sources that are either low, dried up or toxic to livestock. “When we have lower amounts of moisture, when we see these stock ponds and dugouts, they start to shrink down and we see concentration of the minerals, the salts, that are in that water supply.” Galbreath says ranchers should reach out to their local Extension agent for help or information. “They have testing kits they can use to do that testing to get a reading on what those water sources are actually at.”
