Alabama Drought

[C HOLLAND]

The drought here in Alabama is worse than most people realize.


http://www.alfafarmers.org/headlines/he ... ml?id=5032

SPARKS: DROUGHT MORE THAN 'ROUGH PATCH' OR 'BAD YEAR'
Christy Rhodes Kirk
(334) 240-7103
June 08, 2007

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Commissioner Ron Sparks expresses his increasing concern as Alabama continues to experience one of the most severe droughts in the United States this year.

Between April 1 and June 1, most of Alabama has only received 2-4 inches of rain. The US Drought Monitor has now raised the drought rating of a substantial part of Alabama to level four, or "exceptional."

With ponds drying up and virtually no grass or hay, many farmers have had to make harsh decisions. Sparks hopes that the Department of Agriculture & Industries will be able to find some solutions to help farmers.

"We have to keep trying to help our farmers get through this," said Sparks. "This is much more than a rough patch or even a bad year. We have farmers in Alabama who have had to sell their brood cows for slaughter because they can't feed them. When farmers are forced to sell their mama cows, it is like they are selling the family business. That should not be the only answer." For example, in the second half of 2006 farmers began selling off more of their cows because of drought conditions. From July 2006 through May 2007, about 25,000 more cattle were sold for slaughter and 2,000 pair cattle were sold compared to the previous year.

Sparks says that the Department is working on several alternatives to help farmers save their livelihood. The Department of Agriculture and Industries and Alabama Farmers Federation have joined forces to help find hay for drought-stricken farmers in Alabama. A listing of available hay is listed on the Federation Web site, http://www.AlfaFarmers.org.

Farmers interested in listing hay for sale on the Web site may contact Mike Shewbart with the Department of Agriculture at (256) 246-1543 or Federation Hay and Forage Director Perry Mobley at (334) 613-4221. Sparks is also asking the USDA to get Conservation Reserve Program land (CRP) released for grazing and that insurance companies release destroyed corn to be used for feed.

 

[MikeC]

Hey buddy. The drought is over. I just got about 1.5 inches.

Whoop Dee Do! :lol:

 

[dun]

I hope Alabama does better then MO did. They kept talking abourgetting some kind of help for farmers but as soon as it rained they quit talking about it. County were still considred disaster areas but no help from the state.

dun

 

[ETF]

We got some rain from the tropical storm last week or we'd be right there with you, and will be right back there if we don't get a bunch more. Our thoughts are with you - hang on.

 

[C HOLLAND]

Hey buddy. The drought is over. I just got about 1.5 inches.

Whoop Dee Do! :lol:

WOWWWWWW did they sound the flood alarm like they do here when we get over 10 drops.

Mike, I watched it on the radar and it was coming south and kept going west, away from Ariton.

We have not had enough to run off the roof since early April.

I'm proud for you.

 

[gulfso]

Well we are in very South Alabama and getting a little every few days and so far the grass is pretty much green. Compared to some of you guys we are getting a lot but as soon as we get 1/2 inch the wind blows 90 mph out of the North and dries it up along with a little extra.

 

[rmcva]

but as soon as we get 1/2 inch the wind blows 90 mph out of the North and dries it up along with a little extra.

I've been wondering if that was happening in other places. The wind blows all the time here. And like you say after a rain it blows the rain away in 24 hours with the small showers. 3-4 days prior to the Va. Tech shootings we got over 2 in. of rain. On that day of the shootings there wasn't a cloud in the sky and had winds blowing utility poles down and shingles off house tops. I was on the road that day and had to stop and pull trees out of the highway 3 times in a 15 mile trip. I remember the tobacco years (50's -70's for me) and would wish for a breeze in late May and June back then. Things sure have changed.

We're dry here but nothing like you folks have. I just dug up a water cutoff valve and hit some moisture down about 8 in. Not a lot but could see it change color as the sun dried it out.Soil is hard and left the water on leaking to soften the ground some. Our grass is just sitting with very min. growth. It's green early in the morning but browns as the day goes on.

We had drought last year like you have this year. It was a very tough time. I hope that changes soon for everyone. Drought puts a lot of stress on the body and mind and even worse for the cattle. Ya'll hang in there as best you can. I've never wished for a hurricane but when it gets that bad I sure have thought about wishing for one.

 

[jgibson]

Our news station in Huntsville did a story on cattle farmers in marshall county. I think this story is true for most of Alabama.

http://www.whnt.com/Global/category.asp ... enu108_2_5

 

[oscar p]

I had my hay cut Memorial day weekend. Hasn't rained since. My hay fields look like a combined wheat field, Only shorter. Pasture doesn't look much better.

 

[alabama]

We got a tenth yesterday about 3:00PM. It was gone by dark. The hay field did not get any nor did the rented pasture. Both of them are within a mile as the crow flys.
the sky is dark in Montgomery this morning so Mike I hope you get some.

 

[MikeC]

Nothing here.

 

[jscunn]

Watching the radar on weather.com more than the TV. Watching a good cloud move due south towards us until it got about 10 miles away and then drift southwest so it will probably miss us completely. We have had 1.00" since May 15, some in our county have had twice that. I swear we are on the driest ground in the county every year and the wettest piece is 3 miles south or so it seems

 

[C HOLLAND]

UP-DATE

The weather report is predicting 80% for Tuesday, but thats 2 days away and it can change to ZERO by then, and with my luck lately I will be in the area that relates to the remaining 20%.

I am looking into buying a truck load shipped in from Ark

Anyone know how many 5x5 bales a flad bed 18 wheeler can haul and the going rate per mile and fuel surcharge.

 

[dun]

UP-DATE

The weather report is predicting 80% for Tuesday, but thats 2 days away and it can change to ZERO by then, and with my luck lately I will be in the area that relates to the remaining 20%.

Seattle (Kitsap Peninsula) is the only place I ever lived that even in the middle of an actual drought the prediction was for 30% chance of rain.
The year before the drought hit my BIL drilled a new well 150' deep. All of the neighbors gave him a bad time about going so deep when 50' was considered a real dep well. They didn;t give him a bad time when all of the wells in the area went dry and even he had to ration the water to the neighbors.

 

[VZCR]

UP-DATE

The weather report is predicting 80% for Tuesday, but thats 2 days away and it can change to ZERO by then, and with my luck lately I will be in the area that relates to the remaining 20%.

I am looing into buying a truck load shipped in from Ark

Anyone know how many 5x5 bales a flad bed 18 wheeler can haul and the going rate per mile and fuel surcharge.

I had a call from a man in Alabama looking to get hay shipped out there. All the freight brokers I contacted for a quote said $1.50 per mile. They figure from zip code to zip code. They can haul up to 48,000 lbs. They could haul 22 bales with the right kind of trailer.

 

[C HOLLAND]

Thanks VZ

If they can only haul 22 rolls at that price, I guess my cows will be eating peanut hay this winter.

thanks for the reply.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Thanks VZ

If they can only haul 22 rolls at that price, I guess my cows will be eating peanut hay this winter.

thanks for the reply.

CH why aren't you looking for squares in a drought there is much less waste on the hay. You are getting more bang for your buck as the cows are not stomping a third of a round bale on the ground.

 

[C HOLLAND]

CB, I am doing exactly that, matter of fact I have a 50% deposit on 200 small bales now of coastal for $5.00 each, but its tough to even find that around here.

I may be going with a friend of mine to get a load with his trailer if we can find some more.

 

[VZCR]

CB, I am doing exactly that, matter of fact I have a 50% deposit on 200 small bales now of coastal for $5.00 each, but its tough to even find that around here.

I may be going with a friend of mine to get a load with his trailer if we can find some more.

Ya'll can come on out here, I'll bale you up some as soon as we get a little stretch of dry weather..........I even have an accumulator (8-packs) and grapple to load your trailer with. I haul 200 bales on my 32' trailer.

 

[alabama]

CB, I am doing exactly that, matter of fact I have a 50% deposit on 200 small bales now of coastal for $5.00 each, but its tough to even find that around here.

I may be going with a friend of mine to get a load with his trailer if we can find some more.

Ya'll can come on out here, I'll bale you up some as soon as we get a little stretch of dry weather..........I even have an accumulator (8-packs) and grapple to load your trailer with. I haul 200 bales on my 32' trailer.

What is the bigest load you can deliver to Alabama and how much is it FOB in my barn?