The Perfect Storm – HELL STRIKES SOUTH DAKOTA!

[2naSalit]

47. Tell you what

and I don't mean to sound flippant or nonempathic... just some common sense;

I, not a farmer or rancher but live not all that far from this place in this OP and in an area where the similar ag activities take place knew that winter was coming early, in fact we started having autumn weather in late August. There were many natural indicators (known to folks from this area who live here year round) that the summer had come on early and looked to be ending early since back in May/June.

All the same, they should have been aware of forecasts and weather conditions in the immediate sense and acted on this knowledge since there was plenty of warning for those who pay attention. Besides, they said they had just suffered an early storm about five or six weeks prior... and that didn't make them consider that they might need to have a plan B? With that much in resources invested and not take action to protect that investment?

Out here in rangeland, this isn't the best way to go about tending to a wise business acumen. Had they engaged in some forethought, might have had a different outcome. The seasons have been "off" for the last three to four years, I don't buy the argument on this one. Even casual observers in the region have noticed these abnormal seasonal conditions for years now.

As I said before, I feel for them having suffered such a loss but I also think the losses could have been curtailed or avoided altogether.