Tom Johnson saunters from his dust-covered pick-up truck and, with his foot, he nudges the side of an old tractor tire now cemented to the ground in the middle of his pasture — a make-shift trough. The extreme drought conditions that have beset his cattle ranch near Oak Point, Man., about an hour’s drive northwest of Winnipeg, have forced him to block out what the weeks or months ahead might have in store. Instead, he’s putting his head down and focusing on the new challenges each individual day presents.
