What’s It Like In Your Neck of the Woods?

Amanda Nolz October 22nd, 2009

Rain. Rain. Rain. It seems to be the theme for 2009. Some of you are begging for a drop of rain, and some of us are just wishing it would go away already. In South Dakota, we continue to fight the rain, trying to get the crops in and trying to work cattle in the mud. And, in my travels across the country and my email updates from readers, it’s evident that many of you are experiencing the same weather troubles. From drought to floods, is there a happy medium? If there is, which state is experiencing it right now? Today, I want to shoot the breeze like friends in a coffee shop. So, what’s it like in your neck of the woods? Inquiring minds want to know…

Whether you’re experiencing a drought or are overwhelmed by wet conditions, BEEF is here for you, our readers. We have a ton of articles relating to weather for your reading pleasure, and I hope you’ll check them out. In the meantime, if you can take a few minutes to fill all of us in about the weather conditions in your area and how harvest, weaning and preg-checking are going, that would definitely help me better serve you in future blog posts. Thanks for your readership and your comments. I really appreciate it.

By the way, have you voted in the latest BEEF poll yet? If you’ve got a second, head on over to our homepage and answer this question: “Would the Waxman-Markey bill, which proposes to cap carbon-dioxide emissions and allow trading of allowances (cap and trade), be good or bad for agriculture?”

BEEF Daily Quick Fact: “Seldom have forests been cut to pasture cattle, for a very good reason: cattle don’t generate more profit than trees.” —Dr. Dennis T. Avery, the Hudson Institute (Source: Beef Production Facts)

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11 Comments to “What’s It Like In Your Neck of the Woods?”

Melissa Laurent Says:

October 22nd, 2009 at 8:45 am

Pouring here in East Texas this morning. Rained hard most of the night. We are currently under a Flash Flood Warning. I checked the tank yesterday and it was already overflowing on the North end-I hope I’m not losing fish. That troublesome water weed we were fighting seems to be dying back. All this rain has brought mosquitoes as big as your hand. They especially seem to like the Grey Brahmans-I guess for their lighter color. Been spraying for them and flies fairly regularly but not much use doing it in the rain.
Heidi Siewert Schmaltz Says:

October 22nd, 2009 at 9:04 am

Rain is on the way yet again here in Southwestern lower Michigan. We had nice days from this past Sunday until yesterday and we harvested about 300 acres of soybeans including our own and some custom work my husband does. We have about 200 acres more of custom work to do but that will wait until this next batch of rain clears. A way too cool temperature summer, no rain for six weeks in the middle of summer, and a way too wet spring really took a toll on the soybeans. Yield is down. The corn is too wet to even consider shelling anytime soon. Need some sun, drying breezes and warmer temps but they just don’t seem to be coming. Looks like we’re going to be fighting some mud, maybe some snow eventually, for the rest of harvest this fall. Just hope to put enough corn in the bin to see the cattle through the next year.
Benita Wells Says:

October 22nd, 2009 at 9:06 am

We really cant complain here in southeastern NC. We have been colder than usual and have even had a light frost a couple of nights this week, but the sun is out and warming things up today. We have had some good rains and winter grazing grass is coming up very nicely. This is good weather for the new calves…they arent too cold at night and during the day you can catch them striking out across the pastures, tails raised high and running and playing. I love it!! Rain is in the forcast for Saturday, but not a “gully washer” as my husband says. Fall is truly my favorite time of year.
Scott Chauvet Says:

October 22nd, 2009 at 10:47 am

We have had some nice moisture and some pretty cold weather for October, here in Central Montana. The temperature is hanging in the 40’s and 50’s during the day. It is still dry however, August and September dried mother earth out pretty good. Grass seemed to disappear faster this year than it has in the past. Calves up here have been moving for the past two weeks and will continue to ship out for the next couple of weeks. The weather has been very accommodating to wean and ship calves. There is nothing worse than weaning and shipping when the wind is blowing and the temperature is hugging 0! Hay could be at premium price before winter is over up here.
Doug DesEnfants Says:

October 22nd, 2009 at 11:19 am

Cooler and wetter than normal for the year here in SE Wyoming. 16.22″ moisture for the year so far, well above our normal annual of 14.5″. About 3 degrees below normal for temperatures to date. Been a real challenge getting the irrigated hay put up. Still trying to get the 3rd cutting done, snowed on it twice now and froze it proper too. Calves are weaned now been good for that all the moisture keeps the dust down in the corrals, and still not too muddy. After the last 7 years of way below normal this has been wonderfull. Grass has been best I have ever seen in my 30 plus years.
Caleb Schultz Says:

October 22nd, 2009 at 12:59 pm

The updates I’ve gotten from my fiancee’s family in NE Colorado have been thinking that the they’re in for a rough winter since they’ve already seen 3 snows this year. However, they had the best moisture they’ve seen in long long time over the summer. They had received over 20 inches of moisture at the end of August. The annual rainfall is about 15-18 per year normally. In my six years involved with their family, their pasture was by far the best and most lush that I’ve seen. The grass after a full summer of grazing was still as high as the hood of the pickup in some places. It was heart warming to see after so many years of serious drought. I’d be great to see some ground water restore. Maybe they could increase the stock rate a tiny bit!!! We’ll have to see.
Randy Rouse Says:

October 22nd, 2009 at 1:09 pm

Amanda,

Here in south Texas (Hondo America) we come off the worse drought on record and now can’t get the hay out of the field because of the rains! We have some of the most beautiful (irrigated) haygrazer that is ready to cut (actually over ready) and bale and we can’t buy a dry day! But, that’s life on the farm and the ranch. Hopefully the rains will do some good on the ranch and our cows will once again have smiles on their faces!

Take care of you…
Lynn Kirkham Says:

October 22nd, 2009 at 1:24 pm

Here in NW Kansas we are experincing a wetter than normal fall. Have had about 1.75 the last 2 days. Missed the snow so far. Fall harvest is going very slow so may be picking corn at Christmas. Calves got weaned Sat. and the corralls are a mess. Hope to turn out on grass first of next week. Haven’t seen this kind of fall for many years. In western Kansas people are afraid to complain about the moisture for fear of it not starting again.
Ginny Wright Says:

October 22nd, 2009 at 3:13 pm

Cloudy, but really mild last couple of days in Northeastern PA. Makes up for the snow end of last week! Fields are still really wet, though. Clay soils + rain / snow = nightmares chopping corn! Pretty much the story of this whole growing season : - (
Corn is totally unimpressive, haylage is testing low, and there is very little hay anywhere in the region that hasn’t gotten ‘washed’ at least once. Should make for an interesting season for balancing feeds. C’est la vie!
Jerry Laskody Says:

October 23rd, 2009 at 3:38 pm

Here in Western Montana, it’s been relatively dry with a few sorry ol’ showers now and again. It’s drizzling as I write this and I hope we get a soaker because the pasture’s can use it. We had about 8 inches of snow two weeks ago with lows down in the single digits and that lasted about 4 days. The potato farmers barely got their spuds in the cellars before they froze. This cold snap followed about 6 weeks of no moisture. I’ve been doing some fence work and my auger can’t penetrate the dry ground unless I dig a shallow hole and add a bucket of water!
Since we can’t do anything about the weather, we adjust as best we can.
Amanda Nolz Says:

October 30th, 2009 at 4:43 pm

Just thought I would give an update to what it’s like in my neck of the woods today. After weeks of endless rain, we have now moved onto snow. Oh joy!