North Dakota ranchers appear to have enough feed to move into fall despite drought concerns earlier this year. “Obviously, the drought conditions across the state had a lot of people on edge for most of the summer, but it appears that the feed base was put together; a lot of corn has been put up for silage,” said Scott Ressler, environmental services director, North Dakota Stockmen’s Association. “I think they’re gonna continue business as usual, backgrounding their calves. It looks like that market is hanging in there, and so the interest in feeding cattle remains the same.” Ressler said more producers are looking at confinement feeding facilities as an alternative to traditional open lots. Cost share programs are available to help with the construction.
