Winter Range

Is it normal to not be snow covered
Not really I suppose. It is normal to have snow this time of the year but usually we have a skiff or it melts a bit or we have a couple inches not a full foot deep, laden trees and snowbanks. Which in the long run is likely a good thing. It just feels odd to plow a feed trail to bust hay onto this early in the season. Last year the cows stayed out on summer pasture until December 12th because like @gcreekrch we could still see grass through the skiff of snow we had, any heavy snow we got did not last and the river was open. This year they were home the end of October, partly because we had an early heavy snow, ice forming on the river and we decided it was time and we fortunately had a stand of grass to graze at home that did not make enough to go for a 2nd cut so was not a great imposition to pull them home early.
 
Snow came last week with a bang. Had cows out on remote pastures grazing last Thursday and got them all hauled home today because 15-30 inches of snow made grazing cease quickly.

I was hoping to graze another 2-3 weeks yet so the herds could stay separated for another breeding cycle. But mother nature had other plans.
 
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Snow came last week with a bang. Had cows out on remote pastures grazing last Thursday and got them all hauled home today because 15-30 inches of snow made grazing cease quickly.

I was hoping to graze another 2-3 weeks yet so the herds could stay separated for another breeding cycle. But mother nature had other plans.
15" of snow would cripple everything here. We rarely get 2" and many times its gone by that night. Keep it up there.
 
We get 2" on a partly sunny day here. Ha

Since last Thursday evening I've had 16" at my house, one pasture I moved out of had 22" and the other 28". And supposed to snow the rest of the week.

I heard on the radio one church service was canceled today that's the only disruption the snow has caused.
 
15" of snow would cripple everything here. We rarely get 2" and many times its gone by that night. Keep it up there.
True... except when I moved to Va, back in 1981, that next winter or maybe the next year, we had 2 back to back snows with over 30" on the ground by the end of that week... I carried sq bales in to a place to feed because all I had was 2wd pickup.... granted I only had 10-15 cows then... but it was a miserable couple days until the people who owned the place got the driveway plowed and we could get in and out..
Around 2000, we had snow starting the week before Christmas, I was doing the last gift boxes from the grist mill, where I was working part time... got them dropped at the P.O.......and it kept snowing nearly every weekend. Ground was white from then through late March.
But yeah, seems nowadays, most any snow over a couple inches and everything is crippled anymore...
 
Good looking bonus grazing. Mother nature won't cut us a break here. Had 50" of snow fall since Thanksgiving. Warm now and freezing at night so you can practically walk on the snow. Noticed some cut and bloody noses on cows trying to graze thru the ice crust.
I sympathize. One of the reasons I finally sold the ranch due to the drifts. 20 hours in three weeks just to get out of the driveway and the road grader stuck for days at the top of the drive when we finally make it to the county road.
 
Your herd looks great - and content! We "normally" couldn't graze in the winter even if we had lots of grass. But, last year we didn't get the cold temps needed to freeze the ground - and had rain instead of snow - MUD MUD MUD. It was awful, and we are looking to repeat last year.
Roughly, what is your herd average cow weight?
 

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