Grass

[dun]

We prayed for rain in mass down here last summer. We got the rain accordingly. You just gotta know He's up there laughing.
Sure turned out nice today. Just wanted to stand in the pasture and watch the grass grow. The wife had other ideas.

The thing to remember about drought is that just because the visual signs are gone, the long term affects are still lingering. Normal precip won;t eliminate the linger stuff, multiple above normal years will get you back to even.

 

[novatech]

The thing to remember about drought is that just because the visual signs are gone, the long term affects are still lingering. Normal precip won;t eliminate the linger stuff, multiple above normal years will get you back to even.

You are exactly right. Recovering from drought takes a log time. The soil here cracks open allowing the deepere moisture to evaporate. The lonmger the drought the deeper the cracks. When we get rain like we have had the water only penatrates until the ground swells and closses the path to refill the deeper reserves. It just runs off. It will take a lot of opening and closing of those cracks to get things back like they should be.

 

[dun]

The thing to remember about drought is that just because the visual signs are gone, the long term affects are still lingering. Normal precip won;t eliminate the linger stuff, multiple above normal years will get you back to even.

You are exactly right. Recovering from drought takes a log time. The soil here cracks open allowing the deepere moisture to evaporate. The lonmger the drought the deeper the cracks. When we get rain like we have had the water only penatrates until the ground swells and closses the path to refill the deeper reserves. It just runs off. It will take a lot of opening and closing of those cracks to get things back like they should be.

We had a 3 year dorught, it's been 6 years now and even with some years being way above normal for precip. the springs are finally starting to run continuously like they used to instead of only part time.
Anytime water is being drawn from the water table and not replenished at least what is being removed it causes problems in the long run.
But I'm paranoid, too many drought scenerios in the past makes.

 

[msscamp]

There isn't any.

No, there usually isn't during winter. :lol:

I like to walk my pastures daily. Now there is nothing to see. Everything is mud and has been for way to long. The stockpiled forage is gone. The clover, rye and oats are dormant.

Umm, yes, that generally happens during winter - are you just figuring this out?

I,m so bored I'm ready to go nuts. Feeding hay doesn't last long and all I see when doing it is dollars turning into manure.

Change your paradigm(sp?). Hay equals maintaining body condition, supporting unborn calves, providing the necessary nutrition to convert to milk to raise a good calf. It's all about perception.

How do you northern folks handle this? Heard its going to be below zero in Min. today. What the heck you do all day? :help:
I'm ready for spring.

What choice do we have? We can't dictate what the weather will be, so we simply endure. As far as what we do all day, we do what needs to be done. Isn't that why insulated coveralls, insulated gloves, warm hats, and muk luks/Cabela's boots were invented? :lol:

I have not had to feed much hay to speak of for several years. Normally I have enough stockpiled forage to last until the clover and rye kick in. We were in drought this past year. No matter how many acres you had per cow you fed hay this past summer. Therefore there was very little to no stockpiled forage. Unusual cold and rain has set in. The normal rye, oats, and clover is not growing. Everything is mud. We are getting tremendous erosion on the slopes. Buy the time the cows finish off a bale of hay, 1 day, the mud is a foot deep around it. At this point I can see a lot of benefit to frozen or snow covered ground.
Yes we will endure what ever the good Lord deals me. But I don't have to like it. We will do what we have to do but in this slop that is about all until it dries out. It flat out is not enough to fill out my day so I have resorted to belly aching on the boards.

I know. The last few years have been challenging to everybody, and this past year has been downright weird! No reason to be embarrased, we all hit that point at one time or another. Hang in there!