Dry season hurts Calif. cattle and sheep industrie

After one of the driest springs in history, conditions on California rangelands are by far the worst in the nation, according to a report issued this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Fully 97 percent of California's pastures, which support the cattle and sheep industries, are in poor or very poor condition, meaning ranchers must provide significant amounts of supplemental feed for their herds.

Along the west side of the Sacramento Valley, there's only one-third as much grass as usual, said Glenn Nader, a livestock expert with the University of California Extension.

The situation in some places is nearly as grim as during the severe drought of the late 1970s, he said.