I have no idea. Over 200 cows, mostly bred, at the sale last week.
Drought Observations
- Thread starter bird dog
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The cow runs tapered off for a month or two here with the rain but now they are back up again. It's amazing how many cattle just keep coming and coming.
TexasJerseyMilker
Well-known member
Those last two bogged cattle should have been shot.
greybeard
Well-known member
I know for sure that cattle or horses in the yard plays heck with mowing because of hoofprints.
tex452
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we are in worse shape now than we were in the summer.
The dry weather and cool nights has really slowed down the grass growth.
The dry weather and cool nights has really slowed down the grass growth.
Southeast Kansas, in town we have received 3/4" since June. My small ranch 25 miles north and a little west nothing measurable since June. Just last week they put us in the extreme drought.
papavillars
Well-known member
Still green grass but drying quickly.
chaded
Well-known member
Do you guys put the cattle in a sacrifice lot and feed hay during a drought or are they out eating what's left to the dirt? Here if we let them eat it down to the dirt we would not only need rain but a lot of time for the pastures to recover.
bird dog
Well-known member
chaded... Mine are out eating the low grass. There is not enough hay around to start putting it out now. They continue to rotate through the nine pasture regardless of the conditions. . There is presently not much ahead of them but moving them spreads out he manure and they are optimistic things will be better in the next pasture. Whom am I tell them they are wrong?
I honestly don't think it matters much to the grass at this point. We have been dry since last spring. In 2011 our grass was grazed to the dirt. It didn't matter much once it started raining. Mother nature has done this longer than I an knows what it takes for grass to recover. In the meantime, we do what we have to to survive.
I honestly don't think it matters much to the grass at this point. We have been dry since last spring. In 2011 our grass was grazed to the dirt. It didn't matter much once it started raining. Mother nature has done this longer than I an knows what it takes for grass to recover. In the meantime, we do what we have to to survive.
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Neither. I'm not going to let cattle take a pasture to dirt nor will I feed up all my feed. If it's get to that point it's too late.
I'm always thinking if ways to explain this with an analogy. Best I have come up with is our pasture is like our checking account. The cows eating is like our bills every month. In STX it's like being self employed... (or even worse, seasonal work lol). The revenue (rain) comes in spurts. You have to keep a healthy amount of money (grass) in the checking account to stay operating until the next check. If at any point your bills start out running your revenue you have to make cuts. Waiting until the checking account is at zero, is too late the make a change. You dang sure can't live on the savings account (the hay).
Hope is not a plan, IMO. LoL
MurraysMutts
Well-known member
Over 700 here Thursday. Near as many last couple weeks. Been bad. All bad. I too have not mowed in forever!
Not when it's this dry!
Stocker Steve
Well-known member
Neither. Sell pairs while you still have grass. You should never run out (of grass).
Hay got high enough here last year, that it would have been cheaper to shoot old commercial cows rather than feed them thru a long winter.
Mrcopier
Well-known member
Like that way of thinking
People are bailing every thing in sight around my house. Pastures with brush and trash and kinds of stuff. Round bale starts at $80 and goes up from there.
I had a person call me out of the blue that sells hay because we have a place off a main highway. Apparently some one gave him my contact. He offered $10 a bale to take off baling pastures, rows, where ever he could get.
That was a first for sure.
He said... why do yall have some much grass?
I said... because we don't bale hay. LoL That's my winter grazing.
He kind of seemed confused.
1982vett
Well-known member
40 days since the last rain…
Stocker Steve
Well-known member
Hay prices are very uneven here. Some sold for U$S 45 per ton today. Cannot afford to bale it.
We've baled over 10,000 bales this summer and it all sold. People come to us, we didnt have to work at it.. We sold to locals first for a fair price. I'd love to get some of the prices people are asking, but, we'd never do that to people we know. The last bits sold for more, only because there aint gonna be no more and it was second cutting and pretty darn good hay. And if we have to replace it, we'll be paying way more for it. I think there is more to be cut, this summer will never end...
bird dog
Well-known member
Despite not having much to eat, some of these old girls hold their condition.
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Our cows are fat too...... from the looks of your cow, your ponds are down.. How are yours holding up?
bird dog
Well-known member
Cowgirl-- This place has nine pastures that I rotate through and each one has a stock tank (pond). This kind of takes the pressure off of some of them. They are all very low and some are dangerous for bog downs. Most of the cows I have left have been here a while so they know spots to avoid. This first pic is one that was enlarged before i bought the place. The second pic is a pond I had dug four years ago. It was not a government paid pond but was dug like they make you do and are considered permanent water. For our area that means the bowl is at lest 10' This one was 12'. Considering we have not had a run off rain since March, they have held up very well.
