Field and Garden: Farmers, ranchers face another challenging spring

"There was a blizzard in early May 1950," recalled my friend Melvin Schramm. "Nothing had been done in the fields when I arrived home on May 23 to help with planting." The Schramm farm was located near Cathay, N.D.

Schramm told me that there was so much water in the fields after the blizzard that the townships dug out around the road culverts to increase drainage. Bridge planks were put down so...