Spring, or Not ?

[Stocker Steve]

Soil temp is about 40 F here. Not much germination going on.

Rain and upper 30s tonight. Over 6" of snow east of us. Calves are not happy.

Will be on hay for at least another 10 days.

 

[Bright Raven]

It is not ideal here either. I think it is too wet. The folks who produce a lot of hay here, say it is thin. Probably will not test high. Grass seems to have come on strong but now is slowing down. Really needs to be cut here because it is getting rank in spots and they are not grazing it evenly.

 

[Son of Butch]

8" of snow in Duluth, 9" at Hermantown some areas will have 10" before it ends in next couple of hours and should be done with snow for 5 months. Yes, wet and cold throughout the state, but could be worse... 18 tornadoes down south in tornado alley and Houston area has more than enough rain.

 

[jltrent]

It is not ideal here either. I think it is too wet. The folks who produce a lot of hay here, say it is thin. Probably will not test high. Grass seems to have come on strong but now is slowing down. Really needs to be cut here because it is getting rank in spots and they are not grazing it evenly.

We seem to have had fairly good rain, I used triple 19 and I notice the hay seems a little thin. A few days of warm weather can help it a lot though as it still has a good color.

 

[Son of Butch]

45 high today with low of 35.
There is hope though... I saw an article (seriously dumbest news article I've seen recently) reporting historically June is warmer than May and July is even warmer than June.

 

[Aaron]

Duluth weather service is reporting just a hair shy of 10" at this moment. No snow here and just a faint light patter of rain last night for a few minutes. I think value of my leftover hay is increasing by $1-2 every day. Turnout won't be until nearly end of May for most guys.

 

[haase]

My niece lives in Hermantown, Sob, said that they were just getting ready to start mowing before the snow came, we will see them next week in Spooner WI, for a fishing trip, looked like Spooner only got a dusting of snow.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Not the kind of climate change I was looking for...

Is that turn out date a record for you ?

 

[greybeard]

Is it Spring?
Screen shot of this morning's weather and it's not a typo. 88 deg at 8:40 am and humidity is thru the roof.

 

[Aaron]

Not the kind of climate change I was looking for...

Is that turn out date a record for you ?

No, pretty typical. Between mid-May to late-May. Middle of June would be late, but I make sure I am always covered for hay till mid-June. But most guys only factor from mid to late May on hay supplies, so it will be tight for majority.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

Here on the wet side of Washington, we're in a drought! 82degrees today.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Hay panic is over here, but some guys are trashing their annual production, by letting the cows pick for a month before they should be turned out.

More oats going in here this spring. Some guys are tired of losing money growing corn we don't need.

 

[Aaron]

Hay panic is over here, but some guys are trashing their annual production, by letting the cows pick for a month before they should be turned out.

More oats going in here this spring. Some guys are tired of losing money growing corn we don't need.

I let my fall cows/yearlings pick a little on one place, keeps them from testing fences too much while I am calving spring cows. But I am only a little over 5 miles from the fertilizer depot, so production can easily be giving a boost in late spring/early summer. I am competing with about 8 other guys for 2019 Gallagher Pasture Pro Grazing Champion for this area, so I'll see if my enrolled pasture is as good as I think it is.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

We turned out this past Monday night. 1 day in each full paddock. Hopefully, grow back is QUICK. I have 10 untouched paddocks (no cattle thru winter). Generally, before I get to last one, they are lasting 2 days. We'll see. Ran out of hay. Already had bought 36 very late cut crappy dry bales delivered for $40/each. Never had to buy hay!

 

[1982vett]

Just outside the window. Should have been cut 3 weeks ago.

 

[NEFarmwife]

We had a freeze warning overnight.

Snow to the north. Non-stop rain on already saturated ground. Froze my behind off yesterday at district track. I should have ran with them to keep me warm.

Next week, I'm seeing mid 80's.

 

[JParrott]

Been one of the best Spring's I can remember here. Good rain, plenty of sun, and mild temps. Hay should be good for everyone around here and grass is growing faster than the cows can eat it. They're as fat and slick as they can be. I hope and wish everyone gets some of it this year.

 

[Stocker Steve]

May have seen the last snow storm for this spring, and expecting to hit 70s next week. :banana:

How do you get to be a "Grazing Champion" ?

 

[Aaron]

May have seen the last snow storm for this spring, and expecting to hit 70s next week. :banana:

How do you get to be a "Grazing Champion" ?

See who can graze a designated pasture the longest. Guidelines are pretty loose, but cattle can't have access to any additional feed like hay or silage. Our local feed store was given Gallagher's Pasture Pro dealer designation which I guess is pretty special as there is only like 20 such dealers in North America and they are regarded as Gallagher's elite dealers, so they try to do special promotions like this grazing contest. Participants get special deals on Gallagher fencing and winner gets M1100 fencer or equivalent value in fence supplies. I want to talk them into a farm gate sign for the winner. 2019 Rainy River District Grazing Champion would look real nice.

 

[Stocker Steve]

See who can graze a designated pasture the longest. Guidelines are pretty loose, but cattle can't have access to any additional feed like hay or silage.

Running Herefords seems like cheating. :nod:
So can I graze some longhorns on tag alder tips for a win ? :cowboy: