Same here, I had to move cows a month ago, was hoping for it to last with a handful of bales until weaning time in November. I'm going to wean early, before I take the cows to corn stalk fields. Just a single strand hot around them, no place for calves. The old cows are no problem there.
Sounds good in theory but this cycle of drought year after year is getting tough to maneuver through. Stopped cutting around 40 acres of pasture/ hay ground to save for grazing. So now I'm down on my hay numbers . Culling is definitely an effective tool and we can definitely let some older cows go but losing some of the best cows on the farm . Keeping less heifers this year . Sold some younger calves but that's one of the last options for us . Got some rain today and more in the forecast with the hurricane approaching. Problem is we are less than30 days from our first frost on average. Grass just isn't going to have the time to do much growing. Sorry for rambling but just expressing my thoughts. Keeps me awake at night !
Or 1/2 a cow
True I do have more acres. But we run more than 1 per 100. More like 1 per 30. But it you run cows based the maximum number you can run on years when everything is right there will be years when it doesn't work.
Those would be sheepOr 1/2 a cow
The problem with people wanting a home in the country is that "They want their cake and eat it too". They want their 'county space/lifestyle (depends on who and where you are as to what qualifies as this) and then they also want the convivences of "town" or the city out their back porch. They also don't want the 'inconveniences' of the county such as the combine or planter traveling down the road at 15-20 mph and the aroma from the beef, dairy, hog, fertilizer, poultry operation that is the neighbor but is a half mile away either.
You brought up the term "average". It isn't necessarily wrong, but planning for a "normal" year is the approach I would take. Normal and average aren't quite the same thing in many areas. In Michigan, they probably are the same. In Eastern Oregon, no they are not. For example, in Oregon they may get 9 inches of rain one year, 12 the next, 10 the third, potentially 23 the 4th, and then down to 11 the 5th. Find the average. Note that the average will have you overstocked in most years. If you are in Oregon, you probably understand this. For those living in in more moderated rainfall regions, this thought process takes some getting used to.
Got myself in a pickle for taxes so trying to hold off on selling. Have some I would like to cull. So many different ways of doing things as well. Hay and feed are cheaper this year around here. Haven't bought any but could probably purchase feed cheaper than more acreage. Never tried a sacrifice lot. Have done bale grazing and weeds come up around every spot a bale was placed and not because the hay was weedy but because the seed bank was exposed. It's a personal opinion but don't like the idea of a sacrifice lot and having cows in the mud all winter. Small enough herd still they won't destroy the farm.
We have had 6" this week and its only Thursday. And none of that is from the hurricane.
Six inches would put what little top soil we have into the river. Flash floods would occur. Probably cause more damage than the fire did.
