Crazy Weather

Crazy weather seems to be the new normal. No rain for 6 weeks from end of May until July 7, then a rainy July followed by another dry period of 4 weeks in August. The dry spell ended in dramatic fashion last Saturday evening with 4.5” of rain in 1 hour and then another 1.1” in the next couple of hours. Yes, 5.6” of rain that came down hard and quick. So knowing these droughts and downpours are the new norm, what can we do about it?

1. We put less cows on pasture per acre and keep rotating them to give the pastures plenty of rest. This allows the grass to stay longer and develop a strong root system to survive droughts and hold soils in place during the downpours.
2. Plant crops that adapt to drought conditions such as Forage Sorghum & Sorghum sudan grasses.
3. Utilize no-till practices as much as possible. 90% of our ground doesn’t get tilled each year, just where the cows have mucked it up. This leaves extensive roots and soil structure to hold water during drought and reduce erosion during downpours.

We are continually looking for other methods to deal with the climate change and eliminate our impact by storing more carbon in the soil every year.