How a lack of rainfall in Arizona is forcing some ranchers to adjust
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — It’s been a dry start to the new year following a very dry 2024. Phoenix hasn’t seen measurable rain since Aug. 22; that’s 137 days.
Last year went down as the 23rd driest year on record for Phoenix. The lack of rainfall statewide is causing issues for businesses relying on the rain.
Even areas like Payson, Sedona and Prescott haven’t seen rain in more than 60 days. And it’s been close to 60 days for spots like Flagstaff and Winslow.
“We didn’t have more than four inches this year,” southeastern Arizona cattle rancher Ben Menges said. “We’re supposed to have an average of 12.”
Menges has been managing the ranch for more than a decade, but he says this past year was tough.
“We’re no strangers to drought but 2024 was a terrible year in terms of rainfall,” Menges said.
Because of the lack of rain, he is forced to spend money on hay for his cattle because it’s so dry and nothing is growing.
“Normally I would just leave them out there if we had had any grass in that pasture at all,” he said.
A drought can cause the price of grain to spike, making it too expensive to buy. This forces some ranchers to make hard decisions about reducing herd sizes.
“If it doesn’t rain in the next year, we’ll be selling more than half our herd probably so it’s a pretty serious problem,” he said.
“If we get into spring season and it’s this dry and we have no water anywhere, certainly wildfire concerns us,” said Eric Glomski, the founder and wine grower at Page Spring Cellars outside of Sedona. “If it gets really dry around the fine roots, it’ll kill them.”
The lack of rain forced him to irrigate in January, which he says he had never done before.
“The problem with that is we have freeze too so I just put all this energy into draining my irrigation systems and the things that aren’t drained, insulating them and covering them up and getting them all ready for the winter and now I have to undo all of that,” he said.
He hopes for better weather this year to protect his vineyard and business.
“Rainfall replenishes our ground water and in a lot of areas if we are still using it at the same rate we always have, but it’s not being replenished at a sustainable rate, then I think we could run into trouble,” Glomski said.
Some areas across the state saw above-average rainfall totals, with but the rain fell earlier in the year.
Last year, Phoenix got 4.54 inches of rain. The average is 7.22 inches.
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