I don't know how you's do it

[wbvs58]

We are having the wettest winter in the 15 years that I have been here. Our drought finally was broken in February when we got a good run in our creeks and all dams finally got full but the super saturated ground has not dried out as we got into autumn and winter and then combined with good rain at regular intervals we are now wetter than wet. I can only get a vehicle to very limited places around the property. I call it the 3 times rule, you get across a piece of ground once and if you are lucky you might get back but if you try for a 3rd time you go straight through to the slurry below and are there for the duration.
I know a lot of you there have very wet winters, fortunately I don't have to feed hay, the cows have plenty of feed stockpiled in the paddocks with their preferred grazing at the moment being green feed under the trees among the rocks on the hills where it has been a bit sheltered from the frosts. I just couldn't imagine how it would be trying to feed out hay in this slop. They tell me there is money in mud.

Ken

 

[Redgully]

Wet here in the west too. I was pulling out 500 nectarine trees on friday and slip sliding everywhere. 20 trees to go and got bogged good and proper. Water bubbling up out the ground evetywhere. We have had showers or rain every day for the last three weeks. I sold a bull last week to a guy 100km inland from me and he said they can't get tractors into any paddocks.

 

[TCRanch]

We are having the wettest winter in the 15 years that I have been here. Our drought finally was broken in February when we got a good run in our creeks and all dams finally got full but the super saturated ground has not dried out as we got into autumn and winter and then combined with good rain at regular intervals we are now wetter than wet. I can only get a vehicle to very limited places around the property. I call it the 3 times rule, you get across a piece of ground once and if you are lucky you might get back but if you try for a 3rd time you go straight through to the slurry below and are there for the duration.
I know a lot of you there have very wet winters, fortunately I don't have to feed hay, the cows have plenty of feed stockpiled in the paddocks with their preferred grazing at the moment being green feed under the trees among the rocks on the hills where it has been a bit sheltered from the frosts. I just couldn't imagine how it would be trying to feed out hay in this slop. They tell me there is money in mud.

Ken

The struggle is real! Tractor is in 4WD putting out bales and mud is over my ankles. And I still feed with buckets. The upside: walking in ankle deep mud & carrying 33 lbs. of cubes while wearing 20 lbs. of outerwear is a phenomenal workout

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

We had a super wet year 3 or 4 years ago. Saturated ground, duals on the tractors to make hay, etc. I'll take that over our current no rain in a month and everything burning up.

 

[greybeard]

yesterday was the first day of July...that it did not rain here.

 

[MurraysMutts]

It's a struggle for sure.
I think the worst part is tearing up ground and nice smooth pasture just getting around when needed.

I'm very fortunate here at home. We have an old railroad right of way going thru our place at a diagonal. When it's very very muddy, I use that as a road and dump hay off the sides of it. It's almost a blessing!

 

[SBMF 2015]

A 4wd tractor with good tires is a must. In the spring when the first goes out we are pushing mud with the front axle on the tractor putting out hay.

 

[wbvs58]

The struggle is real! Tractor is in 4WD putting out bales and mud is over my ankles. And I still feed with buckets. The upside: walking in ankle deep mud & carrying 33 lbs. of cubes while wearing 20 lbs. of outerwear is a phenomenal workout

So that's why your so skinny TC.

Ken

 

[Dave]

Over on the coast where I could depend on it raining every other day all winter. I poured concrete out about 20 feet from a feed bunk. I put a roof out about 12 feet so the cows were under the roof while eating. The roof extended out about 5 feet over the feed. My side was an old ancient gravel bar so mud only got about an inch or two deep then it was rock. Down side was once a week I had to scrape the manure off the slab and come spring I had to spend a while spreading that manure.

 

[Dusty Britches]

It can be a struggle, but I'll take too much rain any day of the week over too little.

 

[Katpau]

We get almost all of our yearly rainfall in winter when most of the day it is too cold for grass to grow. We are heavily dependent on rains we get in April and early May, but this year those rains were almost non-existent. We got 0.7 inches total in April and 0.75 in all of May. Thankfully we got.73 inches the night of the 13th of June, which helped give us what little grass we are now trying to survive on. Hay is hard to find. Irrigation was cut off entirely in the Klamath Valley and is reduced in other areas. Lots of folks selling cows. Cull cows are bringing a good price if they are in good condition, which I assume is not true for the folks selling out. Bred cows and calves are dirt cheap. No one has any grass to put them on, and it is a long haul to anywhere with grass. I'm just hoping to make it to October and hoping we get rain then, but sometimes the rains don't come until December. Neighbors are already feeding cows and I'm not sure how soon we will need to start. I don't want to think about it. I have a normal years worth of hay in the barn already, but I know I'm probably going to need half that much again to make it to, and then through the winter. I will also need to cull more cows. That will be difficult since I culled about 25% of the herd a couple years ago because of drought, so there are no easy choices left. I'm actually hoping there will be a bunch of opens to make the choices for me.

 

[Dave]

The hay I see advertised coming off the irrigated areas is priced by the bale not by the ton. Most of that works out to over $200 a ton. If a person is going to need it they better buy it now. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those years where come January there will be no hay available at any price. There was a year like that in the early 2000's. I saw the hand writing on the wall and bought hay in November. By January and February I had people begging me to sell them hay but I couldn't or I would cut myself short.

 

[Atimm693]

Been a wet one here in MO too. Got dumped on Saturday, pretty good flood that knocked down some fences.

Although we're 2/3rds of the way through July and haven't had a month long stretch of 90+ days like we usually have, so that's nice.

We still have 40 acres of ground that we haven't been able to get worked up and ready. If we're lucky we'll be able to get it planted and get one cutting.

 

[Vschoettle]

We get almost all of our yearly rainfall in winter when most of the day it is too cold for grass to grow. We are heavily dependent on rains we get in April and early May, but this year those rains were almost non-existent. We got 0.7 inches total in April and 0.75 in all of May. Thankfully we got.73 inches the night of the 13th of June, which helped give us what little grass we are now trying to survive on. Hay is hard to find. Irrigation was cut off entirely in the Klamath Valley and is reduced in other areas. Lots of folks selling cows. Cull cows are bringing a good price if they are in good condition, which I assume is not true for the folks selling out. Bred cows and calves are dirt cheap. No one has any grass to put them on, and it is a long haul to anywhere with grass. I'm just hoping to make it to October and hoping we get rain then, but sometimes the rains don't come until December. Neighbors are already feeding cows and I'm not sure how soon we will need to start. I don't want to think about it. I have a normal years worth of hay in the barn already, but I know I'm probably going to need half that much again to make it to, and then through the winter. I will also need to cull more cows. That will be difficult since I culled about 25% of the herd a couple years ago because of drought, so there are no easy choices left. I'm actually hoping there will be a bunch of opens to make the choices for me.

Where are you located? We are in Ohio and let me say I've had ya all in our hearts and prayers as I've been watching the weather out West. Hats off to you cause I know you are going through it.

 

[BFE]

Been a wet one here in MO too. Got dumped on Saturday, pretty good flood that knocked down some fences.

Although we're 2/3rds of the way through July and haven't had a month long stretch of 90+ days like we usually have, so that's nice.

We still have 40 acres of ground that we haven't been able to get worked up and ready. If we're lucky we'll be able to get it planted and get one cutting.

Where you at in Mo? I went to Lake of the Ozarks a few weeks ago, from there up to 70 was awful. Every creek and river bottom was bare due to flooding.

 

[Atimm693]

Where you at in Mo? I went to Lake of the Ozarks a few weeks ago, from there up to 70 was awful. Every creek and river bottom was bare due to flooding.

Right in the middle of LOZ and Springfield.

 

[Katpau]

Where are you located? We are in Ohio and let me say I've had ya all in our hearts and prayers as I've been watching the weather out West. Hats off to you cause I know you are going through it.

About 170 miles south of Portland, between the coast range and the Cascade mountains.

 

[Caustic Burno]

We have had two days this month it hasn't rained.
Raining right now.

 

[1982vett]

Hey greybeard…..will you close the gates?




We weren't supposed to have a chance of rain till next Tuesday.