Effects of Drought

We all know it's been a hot, dry summer. We see the impacts on our yards, the parks, and especially, the side of the highways. How many of you have wondered what's going on at the farm? We've been asked a few times, so here it is. We're down nearly 10" from average for the calendar year. It's pretty bad. Most of the weather events that have moved through the area have missed us.

A few of the obvious things are a lack of grass, a diminishing water supply, no hay production, and no irrigation for the corn maze. It gets a lot worse though. There is little to no grass available right now. What is available is weed, which on a farm means it isn't nutritious and often is poisonous to the animals. Nightshade, Mesquite trees, and Nettle being some of the more prominent. Cattle can eat the lower nutrition weeds, but if they get too hungry, they will eat the plants that are truly harmful to them.

Ironically, diminishing water supply means there is mud close to the water. Normally, there is grass lining the edge of our stock tanks, and the cattle can walk on it without sinking. Now though, some of the ground that is normally under water is exposed and muddy. Cattle have difficulty getting to the water, and some even get stuck. We have a social media post about a calf that sank up to his belly and was so stuck, we had to pull him out.

Not only do we not have grass for the cattle to eat, we can't produce hay to feed them, or to sell for income. The drying stock tanks also mean we can't irrigate the corn maze. As of right now, it looks like we won't be able to have that event either. There aren't even enough pollenating plants this year for us to have honey to harvest. It has impact on every aspect of the farm. The overall impact is profound.

Thankfully, God has given us grace despite the drought. Our herd size has grown enough that we are able to sell cattle this year for income, to reduce the size, and decrease the negative impact on the grazing. The remaining cattle have not lost much in body condition. We still have work to keep them in decent condition, but He has given us the means to manage. We've had the irrigation to keep the pumpkins going and will be able to have an event in November. We're praying He brings us rain in time for the winter grazing to do well.