Drought in a Season of Blessings

Drought---it's defined as a prolonged dry period in the natural

climate cycle that can occur anywhere in the world.

It's happening in Northwest Arkansas!

Last week, our area was declared a drought area --D2 --to

be specific.

As you can see all around us--the color is brown.

Brown grass and brown trees.

Ponds are extremely low or dried up.

                                    

                                We actually moved beef cows from this pasture last week 

                                      because of very little water.  Even though there

                            is still water in the pond, the water quality has diminished.

                                 Hay feeding has been a daily job for several weeks.

Even during drought periods there are blessings.

At the beginning of this drought period when the grass

still had a little green color, we were able to chop the

corn for silage.  This silage will be used in our

feed ration and will definitely help provide nutrition 

and help stretch our hay supply.

                                

                                        Blessings come in all sizes---like finding a buyer

                          for our large milk tank.  It left for another dairy farm today!

                                                         

Even during drought--we are blessed with new life on the farm!

                                  A highlight and for sure a blessing during this drought--

                                                               a wedding!

                       We've been showered with blessings during this season of drought!

                              

                                                   

Everyday Farming Miracles

Do you cut hay first or get the crop planted?

The hay and corn crops are both important to our

beef cows daily diet.

No matter what decision is made,

farming is filled with these moments of

second guessing about the timing of any task.

Farmers are gamblers--without the trip to the casino!

Hay cutting started before the corn  planting.

It is not unusual to have  two or three activities 

going on at the same time.

Farming is truly a juggling act with a little 

gambling on the side!

Miracles on the farm  often begin with the farmer's hard work

but 

it's the sun and the rain provided by God

that gives the crop.

We are blessed by these everyday farming miracles!

 

Farmer's Perspective

 

Farmers talk about the weather a lot.

That's an understatement.

It's a topic of conversation everyday.

As we watched the ponds get lower and lower in late

March and early April, we were concerned 

about drought and the impact that has on our farm.

While the local weather men and women talked about

the sunny, pleasant weekends, we were hoping for rain.

We definitely have a different perspective when

 it comes to the weather.

Just when we were feeling depressed about no rain,

it started to rain!  

The pastures went from short blades of grass to

thick green pastures  with buttercup weed.

Although you don't want to see weeds in the pastures,

I am thankful for the grass that the rain has provided 

and ponds that are in better shape as we get closer to

summer time temperatures and dry weather.

While weather is a prominent topic of discussion,

there are always fun topics to share with our family,

like the eclipse experience of a 5 year old,

                                              who can blow out birthday candles the fastest,

                                                                                     and

                                          the beauty provided by the long awaited spring rains.

Thankful Thursday

Pictures don't always tell the whole story. 

After the first cutting of hay this spring, we were faced with drought

conditions. What hay we did harvest was extremely expensive

due to increased input costs such as fertilize, diesel and even the 

net wrap.  There is no such thing as cheap hay this year!

There were times this summer during the drought

 combined with extreme heat, it was doubtful that we

 would have another cutting of hay .

 I'm thankful that the rain did begin to fall and we were 

able to get a badly needed  second cutting.

Farmers in many areas are still dealing with drought

conditions and are buying hay to feed their beef and

dairy cattle.

I'm thankful that we were able to provide  hay to a 

Texas farmer friend this week and for the 

                                                blessings we receive in sharing our bounty.

Thankful Thursday

Just before Labor Day, the square baler was pulled out of the shed, greased and

oiled, and sent to the field for what almost seems like an outdated practice.

The making of small square bales is a might more tedious than 

driving the big round baler down the field.  

You have decisions to make on the size of the

bale and the tension of the string. It proves that there is an art

  to farming and a lot of patience and praying with each bale

 that scoots out the shoot!

With the help of  the hay accumulator, a skid loader,

and a long trailer, the job of storing the hay is greatly 

 improved from the days of  a hay hauling crew that 

bucked each bale on the trailer in the field then

 unloaded and stacked  them in the barn on

 a 100 degree summer day.

I'm thankful for all the modern machinery that 

makes it possible to produce food for our calves and cows,

for the rain that we have been blessed with in this 

late summer season,

                                                                                  

                                                                                 and 

                                                 for these farm dogs that love life on the farm!

 

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

You know the farmers are still making hay while the sun

shines during these beautiful fall days.

No doubt this will be the last cutting of hay for this field

for the season but these last cuttings  are

 still good quality hay  that can be fed to the beef and

 dairy cows during the winter months.

I'm thankful for the rain we received last week that gave the 

fields the desperate drink that was needed to finish the season and

fill the ponds as we get closer to winter weather,

for the days Breck and I spent talking about how Daddy's

working on the farm and farming together  in the play room,

and

for the magic appearance of Casey's long lost

Dudley who just happened to show up at the Centerton

Animal Shelter after being gone for more than a year.

                                               Happy fall from down on the dairy farm!
 

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

It's a dreary, chilly last day of 2020. Today we received a load of oat hay from

somewhere in Kansas to add to the dairy cow ration.  We still have plenty of hay that 

we have raised on the farm but with the drought we experienced in the late summer and

early fall, it was decided to purchase hay to stretch our supply.  No matter how

well you plan, the plan seems to always change !

The hay has been sampled and will be sent for a lab analysis

to give us the best information on how much hay to include in the daily diet.

We're hoping the milking cows are going to appreciate this addition by

producing a little more milk!

In the last few weeks, 2020 has brought us some very sad experiences.

We have lost several friends in our community due to complications of CoVid.

I am thankful for each of these special friends that made such an impact on 

my family and our community.

Intertwined in our sadness, I am thankful for those

that we have celebrated in a big way when you turn 2,

family time that we 

enjoyed during the Christmas holiday,

and 

for Mac that was 

added to our family roster!

                                                  

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

Fall has arrived!

Just in the last few days, we are wearing jackets 

in the morning and sweating in the late afternoon.

That's how it is in Arkansas!

The grass is mostly brown with a twinge

of green but it will still provide a tasty

treat this winter for our cows to enjoy!

As the hay harvest season is winding down,

the calving season is speeding up!

I'm thankful for these  new healthy 

babies

that are arriving in the perfect 

days of fall

and

for the changes of the season

that remind us to count our

many blessings down on the 

dairy farm.

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

We couldn't have asked for better hay baling weather this past week.

It was hot and dry and the last bale was rolled up before the rain shower.

Harvesting hay requires planning that includes the time needed for cutting,

raking and baling. Watching the weather forecast is part of that planning

but sometimes even the best plan can be surprised by the pop-up shower.

We're still looking for that perfect app for weather predicting!

I'm thankful for the harvest of this dry hay that will 

provide our dairy and beef  cows with the nutrition 

needed this fall and winter.

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

To cut or not to cut? 

That has been the question most discussed 

during this season of rain not only down on the dairy farm

but by farmers across  Benton County and many parts of Arkansas.

Hay is an important crop for all livestock farmers and growing

it is an important part of  our farm's  sustainability.

Many fields are still too wet to cut but after much discussion

it was decided to take our chances and start with the small field 

next to the house so it can be fertilized for the next cutting.

Too much rain has created the need for more creative planning and

adjusting our usual work schedules but

I'm thankful for the rain because without it,

nothing grows.

Too much or too little of anything, reminds us who is in control.

Even the lilies know that! 

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

There's no other month quite like May down on the dairy farm.

All of a sudden, everything  needs to be done at once.

Everything includes not only milking twice a day and caring for 

our cows,heifers and calves but also hay cutting,wheat harvesting

 and corn planting.

Our feeling of being out of control happens every year but

                                        as crazy as it sounds, I still love the month of May.

I'm thankful for the new calves that are being born almost on a daily schedule,

for the smell of the first cutting of hay,

             

and 

for the appearance of the old fashioned flowers that 

brighten the landscape as we work down on the dairy farm.

                                                                                       

Happy May!

Rolling Up October

We're rolling up October in the hay field.

Even though we haven't had a killing frost yet, 

the grass has stopped growing and much of it has already

 turned pale green or brown due to  the seasonal changes but

 it can still be harvested for feeding our beef and dairy cattle.

                                                                     
                                   After rolling up  the hay from this field, we will apply
                                 a measured amount of cow manure (what we call nutrient)
                                                                 to fertilize the field.

                                     Nutrient management plans guide the amount,source,
                                              placement and timing of manure on fields.

                                     Rolling up October  is a sustainability  win for the
                                                 environment and  the dairy  farmer.

                                 

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

We're not so happy about ninety plus degree weather in August even

 though it's expected , but  the farmers are smiling about all the green grass.

I'm thankful for August green and the supply of hay our

 cows will enjoy this fall and winter.

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

                                                         Happy Fall,Y'all!

                                                        

                                        I love these seasonal transitions down on the dairy farm.

                                          Even though  there's a little bit of farmer frenzy as they

                                   work to finish harvesting the hay and silage crops before winter,

                                                   

                                              I'm thankful for the abundance of hay that will

                                                     feed our cows and calves this winter,

the cooler weather for our calves,

and

                                         the beauty of summer flowers that brighten the fall days.

Dairy Q&A

Question:

 Why do you wrap hay ?

                                               
                                                                     Answer:
Our dairy cows eat hay everyday so it's important to have a year round supply.   Wrapping the bales in plastic is an alternate option for storing and processing forage (hay). It also decreases the time it takes from cutting to baling, decreases the  need for  increased mechanical handling and increases the potential for higher feed quality.  It's also made it possible for us to bale later in the season and utilize a variety of grasses commonly found in Northwest Arkansas.

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

During the drought of 2012, feeding hay on the ground was a common scene because there was absolutely no pasture for dairy cows to graze.

Even though we're having our usual hot,dry August weather,

                                     I'm thankful for the hay we baled this week, and   for the fact
                             that our pastures and fields look lush for August in Northwest Arkansas!

Dairy Squares

               If baling hay is done best on a hot August afternoon in Arkansas, yesterday was perfect!

Most of our hay is baled into large round bales to feed our dairy and beef cows  but we always need small bales to feed our young calves as they grow and mature.  

Ryan and Cody worked all afternoon  raking,baling and hauling  these dairy squares from the field  to the barn for stacking.

.

They also found that sometimes those square bales don't stay stacked!

Re-stacking dairy squares  was pretty simple with a 

little farmer muscle and his assistant with the  hay moving equipment.

So simple, in fact, that I made my way back to the house before getting put to work!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

It's not unusual to have mechanical failures when farming but it seems to happen at the least convenient times. Monday's task was to bale 40 acres of good quality hay.  When the first bale kicked out of the baler, a bearing went out and stopped everything. 

I'm thankful for the generous neighbor who loaned us his baler so that we could get every bale harvested before the wind storm  struck just an hour after the last bale was rolled up!