Central Texans feeding hay, yet?

[Dusty Britches]

I guess I'm going to start feeding hay today. The pastures are dry and the cows are eating the goat weed. No rain in sight. This has got to be the driest October in history.

Is anyone else in Central Texas feeding hay yet?

 

[sidney411]

I've been feeding hay for over a month now. Going through 4 bales a week right now and they eat the entire bale by the next day, so I could put out more but we've going to be slim through the winter so don't want ot put out more then absolutely necessary.

 

[endebt]

We still have some pastures that have grass. It is not much but we will use it. The guy that bales our hay says to graze the hay fields. I went to FSA yesterday to see about the ins. on the hay field. Hope they come thru soon so we can buy some more hay. It will take a lot of hay to get thru the winter. iIam already looking at cows to sell to shorten the herd numbers.

 

[sidney411]

endept
What are you talking about, insurance for your hay field?

 

[A6gal]

I just picked up a load of hay yesterday evening. I've still got a little grass, but I've been supplementing with hay for a couple of months now to prevent over grazing. October usually brings us more rain than we've seen this month and unless it rains on the oats and rye grass planted last month I won't have any winter grazing either. Looks like we might be in for a long winter.

 

[Dusty Britches]

Looks like we might be in for a long winter.

Yeah, I'm worried about that, too.

We suspected this drought was going to be bad this year, so we bought extra bales in the early summer, when prices were down. We've got enough to feed straight through early March, but if we don't get rain this winter, next spring is going to be very painful.

 

[milesvb]

I can make it to November on pasture but our stocking rate is fairly low. No chance of rain forecast for the next two weeks at least. We got between 1 and 2 inches about a week ago. It was gone as soon as it hit the ground.

 

[dun]

We were in the same boat. We started feeding hay in june instead of late February like nomral years. Bought two semis of hay, got rain the middle of September and now have enough grass/grazing through probably the end of November. If we get any more rain we'll be able to extend that some.

dun

 

[Mahoney Pursley Ranch]

Put out 1 bale each of the last 2 months. The girls get cubes every Saturday afternoon and I have put out hard baked tubs to encourage them to graze whats left of the pasture. Been a hard dry summer. What I'm really worried abut are my tanks drying up.

 

[Beefy]

i havent started feeding hay yet but it wont be long. i'm going to try to squeeze everything out of the pastures that i can until november. i've upped minerals some and they are eating the more mature grass. i dread putting out 6 or 7 rolls a day but once you start they expect it. so i'm putting it off as long as i can. we will turn them into the peanut fields soon to clean up the left overs and around the edges of the woods. also there is a an alycia pasture around the pond that we didnt cut that should last them a while. no cottonfields to glean this time, they are all on the rented land. then we will plant some wheat or rye or ryegrass or something like that in all the fields.

 

[bigbull338]

the pastures are gone here.its time to start haying the cows.an the pools are drying up.so will be watering cows to.an the cows drink alot of water. scott

 

[milesvb]

What I'm really worried abut are my tanks drying up.

That's worrying me as well. It's going to take a significant rain to make enough runoff and that ground is awful thirsty.

 

[Mahoney Pursley Ranch]

What I'm really worried abut are my tanks drying up.

That's worrying me as well. It's going to take a significant rain to make enough runoff and that ground is awful thirsty.

There are cracks in the ground in my pasture a small dog would fall in. That's how dry it is here. :shock:

 

[J-CCCC]

Wish we could get Bert Lancaster back for a rerun of "Rain Man" ;-) Will bovine eat Goat Weed Can I bale it If so
send your orders :stop:

Jay

 

[TR]

Started feeding hay here in late August. On my 2nd monthly load now. Got about 4 inches of rain the other week, but like was said earlier, it was gone as soon as it hit the ground. It did green up the pasture a bit, but the grass isn't growing fast enough, and prolly won't be for the rest of the year. Luckily I have a hay supplier who has what I'll need for the rest of the winter, albeit VERY expensive.

 

[TheBullLady]

Dry, dry dry here as well. This has sure been a strange year for weather!

The folks west of the Brazos got two inches of rain about 10 days ago, just enough to get their oats started up. We've been feeding hay for about a month. I suspect prices will start going up soon.

 

[J&T Farm]

Its not any better here in Ark. We got 5" when Rita came thru and havent seen a drop since. The ground did soak it in good but we need a little runoff to fill the ponds. Dry is about to only way to describe it.

 

[Dusty Britches]

I haven't seen 5 inches since February. A 1/2 - 3/4" here and there, but not even 5 in aggregate since then.