We're ok with water too, we started cleaning and building after 2011. In saying that, our ponds are very low and i can only guess there are a lot of people who did not prepare or lease land and get what they get..... I just knew the drought was over the first of Sept, but who knew it could get worse. OH, i heard today that we're forecast to have 'gorilla hail' tonight... i dont know what that means but it doesnt sound good
Drought Observations
- Thread starter bird dog
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greybeard
Well-known member
Texas gorilla hail, not to be confused with the much larger Godzilla hail.......
or, as Japanese say, Gorirra hail
or, as Japanese say, Gorirra hail
Fire Sweep Ranch
Well-known member
We are bad here too, in D3 quickly moving to D4. No rain, to speak of, all summer. We are feeding hay already, usually do not start until Christmas. To add insult to injury, we bought 2 loads of hay (28 4 x 5 rounds) a few weeks ago from a place we bought another 70 from in the spring. Nice people who run a poultry farm raising broilers for Tyson. Anyway, we always test our hay, since no one else seems to care and I am feeding fall pairs so I need extra nutrition if the bales are low protein (which they are). So, Friday we went on full hay (out of pasture -except the one that has a bunch of Johnson grass, which is toxic right now). We dropped 2 bales of the newer stuff we just bought, and one of our good hay we put up ourselves. I get the test results later that day; they hay is deadly high in Nitrogen and needs to be pulled immediately. They ate 2/3 of one bale, and not much of the other. No cows died, but now we have to watch for abortions and weak calves being born! That, and when I notified the seller they did not offer reimbursement ($70 each round). We are retesting another batch on Monday, to make sure. The first sample only included 5 bales, so on Monday we will pull at least 10 core samples from different bales. Regardless, the entire issue was not fun. I did unroll one of our good, candy like bales, to dilute what they had already eaten. They gobbled that stuff up! But that stuff is in short supply, and finding hay right now is nearly impossible. The high nitrate hay was likely caused by the drought (3rd cutting according to seller), and chicken litter applied and not able to dilute without rain.
We need another 50 tp 60 rounds to make it through the winter. Not sure where we will find it...
We need another 50 tp 60 rounds to make it through the winter. Not sure where we will find it...
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
Worst I have ever seen.
I have actually seen a creek stop flowing that has never in my lifetime.
Rayburn is 6' low and still falling.
I have actually seen a creek stop flowing that has never in my lifetime.
Rayburn is 6' low and still falling.
bird dog
Well-known member
Good to see you post Fire Sweep. I wish it was under better conditions. My hay is sorry but not toxic. I put out a couple rolls this week but I have to limit what I have. I did put out some tubs with it to hopefully help out. Desperate times. Good luck
Stocker Steve
Well-known member
Do you currently have cows?
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
A few.
Sold most this summer.
I know where some hay is in SW MO if you need it. PM me I'll try to get you some numbers
FSR> Your commentary was an eye opener. I'm not a big fan of hay producers selling hay high in nitrites and not accepting returns. I feel your pain. I made the decision to carry my small group over winter with grazing, whole corn and protein cubes and an assortment of expired apples, oranges, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, lemons, bananas....I'm boycotting hay and the high prices. After the 8" of rain in late August (singular rain storm after drought)...the hay producers here got their second and even third cutting in and even were baling the little strips near roadside and really poor fields of wild grasses....but their prices did not come down. I'm not going to worry cattle are stout and forgiving....and i believe by late January into February hay prices will come down substantially when the hay producers see their lots clogged with bales. Currently they are saturated in hay bails for $100. to $120. and corn bails $60. to $65 ...they can keep them, not many people are buying them. Whole corn is less expensive....and even when it's a wash price wise...I'd still buy the corn and cubes to boycott and keep my cattle safe from low quality hay with nitrites. I feel good every month that goes by...it's a 12 bale $1,200. cost victory I'm not participating in.
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Stocker Steve
Well-known member
There are a lot of cattle management ideas published during a drought. Not my favorites because they are usually focused on minimizing losses.
There are also some management ideas published before a drought. They tend to be longer term efforts, but I am OK with that. My favorites are increasing soil OM and running some sacrificial yearlings along with the cows. A few retained heifers could be sacrificial, but you really need more numbers than that. Perhaps two or even three yearlings per cow if you have the right kind of pasture.
There are also some management ideas published before a drought. They tend to be longer term efforts, but I am OK with that. My favorites are increasing soil OM and running some sacrificial yearlings along with the cows. A few retained heifers could be sacrificial, but you really need more numbers than that. Perhaps two or even three yearlings per cow if you have the right kind of pasture.
Mrcopier
Well-known member
We got about 2 inches of rain today, unfortunately the temps are going to fall below grass growing temps… but we got the rain
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
Kick some down this way please.
I've got a ton of oats in the dirt another 3000 pounds in the barn I don't have the guts to plant until we get something besides dust to drill into.
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
I'm sure they're absolutely crushed.....
wbvs58
Well-known member
Steve, what do you mean by sacrificial steers and heifers?
Ken
wbvs58
Well-known member
I'm very interested in the various strategies you are all employing to deal with your situations and I wish you well in getting through it. Drought is something we are very familiar with in Australia unfortunately. At the moment we are dealing with the opposite, too much water however I know it will be only a short time before we are dealing with dust and not mud. I can deal with average very well however average conditions seem to be just as rare as too much water.
Ken
Ken
Mrcopier
Well-known member
We had just put out chicken littler, hoping you get some soon, I thought most of Texas got it but obviously not
Stocker Steve
Well-known member
We always have a written cull list and usually sell 15 to 30% of our cows each year. After that the culling decisions get harder and we would rather not sell more cows. But having 100% cows in the herd does not leave you other drought destocking options.
By having a significant number of yearlings (who are usually sold off grass in August here) you have some animals that you can sell easily when grass is short. Last year - during a drought - I delayed turning our cattle to pasture, and eventually sold my yearlings right out of the backgrounding yard w/o them ever going to pasture.
We are back into drought this fall but hay is cheap due to fewer cows in the area and expensive fuel. So, we are loading up with heifer calves. They may go to grass in the spring, or they may go to a feedlot in the spring...
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Hpacres440p
Well-known member
For the first time since Labor Day, our gutters on the house are making noise from water. Hallelujah!
farmerjan
Well-known member
A friend of mine said that there has been quite a few hay ads on Craigslist in east Texas... I think she said that Lindale has had a good amount of rain and there was a good amount of hay made lately. Might be able to find some that direction.
