ROANE COUNTY, WV (WCHS) — Roane County and state leaders met with agricultural producers to share drought resources Wednesday night.

“This drought kept coming, but I don’t think anyone really expected it to be this long and this dry,” said Roane County rancher Joe Messineo.

This unique drought brought back memories of the 1969 drought for some.

“Like everyone else, I’m trying to figure out what kind of grants we can get to help pay for expenses. We had to buy water tanks,” said Roane County farmer Alvin Hunt.

Hunt was one of a growing number of farmers who must haul water to their livestock. His cattle consume about 500 gallons of water a day.

Clover-Roane Fire Chief Adam Smith said he helped bring water to his neighbors using their fire truck.

“We’ve had a lot of people ask us about hauling potable water and we’re trying to see if we can qualify our fire truck (to be) capable of hauling potable water,” Smith said.

Weekly data from the USDA showed West Virginia livestock sales nearly doubled from last year.

“This is unheard of, it was late August, early September and they’re already starting to put out hay,” said Roane County Extension Agent Brandy Brabham. “So we decided as an extension service we needed to work with the public and have educational meetings.”

Brabham said they will have another in-person meeting on September 10. They will also continue to hold weekly Zoom meetings every Thursday.