The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), a multifederal government agency partnership that coordinates drought monitoring, forecasting, planning and information at national, state and local levels across the U.S., defines an “agricultural drought” as a phenomenon in which weather conditions lead to adverse plant responses, leading to outcomes that range from reduced crop and forage yields to complete crop and forage failure. 

 In case you haven’t heard, there’s a pretty significant drought on across a big chunk of the U.S. Texas has been hit particularly hard, so much so that drought felt like the unofficial theme of the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course, which took place on the campus in College Station, Texas, Aug. 1-3