Farming Commiseration
I’ve talked a lot about grazing this year, but it has been top of mind for us here at Alden Hills because it has been such a challenging year in our pastures. We are drastically below the amount of rainfall we would normally get so at this point we are very much in a drought. A lot of my previous emails talked about how we’re navigating the dry weather and how we’ve had to progressively adjust our strategy multiple times this season.
Where we stand right now is at the decision point with our pastures.
We have some spots where we have enough grass ahead of the cattle to keep them rotating on pasture, but the feed quality is greatly diminished for the cows. On the other hand, we’re having a good year with our hay, so we have options. Our options are to pull the herds off the pasture, feed the cows hay and let the pastures rest a little longer OR we can continue on our grazing rotation and hope for more rain to get the pasture growing.
Most of the rainstorms in the last 6 weeks seemed to completely miss us just barely… the pastures are struggling to get that regrowth going that we need to be able to graze on our rotations. Now, the interesting thing is that we have more forage available than the fields I see around us… I think that’s due to us building our soil health and grazing well this summer. Unfortunately, doing everything right can only get you so far when there’s just no moisture. The best thing that we can do is prevent damage to the pasture with whichever decision we decide to go with, so I think we are leaning towards feeding hay for a week or two. I’d rather make sure the cattle have good quality feed while also making sure we’re giving the pastures extra rest.
Ethan and I had the chance to go on a pasture walk up near Door County at another farm. A pasture walk is an educational event where graziers can get together and view each other’s farm and see what strategies they’re using in their fields. It’s great for talking with other farmers and seeing how they do things… I always come away with learning something! The biggest thing that stood out was the commiseration that all of us farmers are feeling right now… we’re ALL suffering with the lack of rainfall this year.
Farming is a very unique industry because there is always a level of cooperation and assistance for each other.
Sometimes the best thing we can offer each other is someone to complain about the weather to (we’re not above complaining, trust me!). Misery loves company but it can also be encouraging to know that we’re all dealing with the same struggles! Even if it’s not ideal we do have options and we will survive the season just fine… and we can take some solace in the fact that we aren’t the only ones going to bed praying for rain each night.