Drought plan

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Corn requires iron and oil between the sun and the ground and most of the time is about as economical to buy as grow unless you
are large enough to take advantage in the volume of scale. Not sure how dry it is there but I do know as you get further west
and south it gets very dry. West of there it is really tough. (I like the hay shed and poly wire!)
You can grow a modest amount of corn for less than the I state per bushel average. Use your cow manure for most of the fertilizer input and pick up some discounted RR seed. Custom planting is pretty common.

Modern corn genetics have a huge amount of money invested in them. They still need water, but some western growers were quoted on CT as needing two rains to make a crop.

I don't like row crop, but there is a place for it on a low-cost drought resistant cattle operation.
 
@LauraleesFarm
I too am cutting down small hackberry and honey locust. I got plenty of those that I was going to cut anyway because they have grown in the pasture. Cows enjoy them very much.

My plan, pitch a tent at my property for a week to finish fencing 700 yards that will enclose 35 acres of grass. That should carry them through winter with a little feed supplement.

@cowgirl8 are you near Cooper?
 
@LauraleesFarm
I too am cutting down small hackberry and honey locust. I got plenty of those that I was going to cut anyway because they have grown in the pasture. Cows enjoy them very much.

My plan, pitch a tent at my property for a week to finish fencing 700 yards that will enclose 35 acres of grass. That should carry them through winter with a little feed supplement.

@cowgirl8 are you near Cooper?
I'm on the east side of Paris..
 
That is a question that will have a financial answer next spring.
I truly don't know if I will run stockers on grass, buy SS heavies to utilize grass. I have thought of getting rid of the bull and going to sexed embryo implants or AI to sexed semen.
Be my luck I'd never hit it right and end up with opens every time
 
Bless our friends who make crabgrass hay!

It's gotta come from 25 miles away, 6 bales at a time. But I'll take it.

And it's very reasonable too. These folks that are gouging at 100 to 120 a bale will be remembered later.
There will be people price gouging, but if you're in the hay business and made less than a bale per acre, dont expect last years price. Sometimes its not price gouging...and this year, if its good hay its not...
 
So it turns out, we're getting a second cutting. We're going to have some more hay to sell. It will be the first cutting of course. We'll keep the second. But, we kept the best of the first, cows love it.
 
So how has everyone fared so far???

After selling 4 cows from each place we are holding steady. Got enough hay. And plenty of feed.

I've held back a few heifers like originally planned. But don't intend on re-stocking near as heavy come spring.

I DO intend to keep my calves longer!!
With less cows I believe I can wean and let my calves grow on grass before selling them, rotating them to 2nd pasture away from their mamas.

I'll update in a while with something else that's going on as well.

So maybe this drought was a blessing in disguise....
 
Hanging in there, never swathed my hay, spent $2,000 on my swather only to find the brain box died while it was parked. Ended up turning the cows on the field while we were moving, fenced out of the feed patch, and let them glean the crabgrass and what ever else they could find. Gave them a strip of the feed patch before the storm and will continue to work them across it as they clean up. Something I've considered for several years. I do need to buy some hay in case we get covered with snow and for later. I still haven't fed any cubes or supplement, they've been picking up enough volunteer rye and cheat grass to get by.
 
Hanging in there, never swathed my hay, spent $2,000 on my swather only to find the brain box died while it was parked. Ended up turning the cows on the field while we were moving, fenced out of the feed patch, and let them glean the crabgrass and what ever else they could find. Gave them a strip of the feed patch before the storm and will continue to work them across it as they clean up. Something I've considered for several years. I do need to buy some hay in case we get covered with snow and for later. I still haven't fed any cubes or supplement, they've been picking up enough volunteer rye and cheat grass to get by.
Just keep a close eye on that little lump of sourdough and spring will be here before we know it!
 
Looking dry again. We have pastures that usually stand in water that are just as dry as can be. Rain keeps going by without dropping anything. We held onto a bunch of hay that people are now clambering to get. Parting with some, a little at a time. We dont want to short ourselves. I dont mind it dry during the winter, but, i sure dont want it to continue again into the summer.
 
We are working cattle for my dad right now. Dry winter is the first sign. Our next chance is significant rain is tropical which is a good ways out. We are culling hard while prices are up. Take the cash and live to fight another day.

Raise cattle on grass you have... not grass you are hoping for.
 
We are working cattle for my dad right now. Dry winter is the first sign. Our next chance is significant rain is tropical which is a good ways out. We are culling hard while prices are up. Take the cash and live to fight another day.

Raise cattle on grass you have... not grass you are hoping for.
When the rains are good, make hay.
 
We are still in bad drought according to the official government designations on my place, but supposedly rain is coming this week.

Long term forecast is for drought recovery starting in March. Hope they are right. If my place doesn't get a spring green up I'll need to sell, I think.
 
We are still in bad drought according to the official government designations on my place, but supposedly rain is coming this week.

Long term forecast is for drought recovery starting in March. Hope they are right. If my place doesn't get a spring green up I'll need to sell, I think.
No if's, and's or but's about it.
Hay supply won't last another summer!
 
All bad here. We were supposed to get rain & snow today and so far, maybe .25". I culled hard this year and we started putting out bales in September, which we've never done before November.
 

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