Drought and Survival

[dogghr]

You have heard me say often the farmer quote “ you are always only 7 days from a drought”. So true and I’ve seen it proven. It can be depressing to observe but having a multi use plan helps.
After a very wet spring the tap turned off in summer. Hot dry and a south facing farm are tough conditions.
Certainly no TnM planting for me this fall. With good rains and cooler temps the plots will rebound but we shall see.
Worse dry spell since owning the farm including the 3+ months of no rain late 2018 which was documented on my land thread.
Early summer

Now

Back up plan?? Fallow field management providing drought resistant food. Jumped a nice 10 pt as I neared this mess of ragweed, pokeweed, et al. I have about 10 ac of managed fallow field food plots.
Browse is present within the timber but even it looks wilted.

Chicory and alfalfa browsed to near nothing.

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[dogghr]

Normal this Goldenrod would be about 6-8 ft tall by now providing my plot screening. Stunted. Leaves dropping. Even some taproot type plants struggle in drought.

Trees are showing stress. Fruit has aborted from all pears and apples and Hazelnuts.
Not sure of acorn production yet but if decent based on past experience they will drop early and be less than prime. Luckily I manage for WO, RO , BO , and CO all of which survive various climate issues differently and at least some will provide hard mast food.
Important as last years fawn crop was above average and there will be a lot of hungry mouths. Bear and coyote did not do adequate herd management for lot of reasons.


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[OkieKubota]

We are same right now...a glut of rain through spring and early summer and been hot, dry, windy for the past month or more...clover is done but hopefully rebound when rain returns. They show we may get some this weekend. Crossing fingers because all of the burn marks along the highway where cigarettes were thrown out worries me a bit because a fire in these conditions kills the mature hardwoods...

 

[dogghr]

Hope you get rain. We have showers in forecast but will be random. Need a wk of rain. We are at 35% normal rain for year which is better than 2018 but timing this year has given worse results.
And like you I fear the tinderbox ready to ignite come fall. Hopefully it self corrects soon.


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[KSQ2]

I'm very new to t&m, so educate me on why it wouldn't work for you this fall. Is it because of the condition of your fields right now and not having much thatch? Or is it because you can't count on rain this fall to get it started? Curious because it's only a matter of time before we will be in the same boat, droughts come and go for all of us it seems.

 

[dogghr]

I'm very new to t&m, so educate me on why it wouldn't work for you this fall. Is it because of the condition of your fields right now and not having much thatch? Or is it because you can't count on rain this fall to get it started? Curious because it's only a matter of time before we will be in the same boat, droughts come and go for all of us it seems.

Three main reasons. The ground is hard baked right now. No remaining thatch to provide cover to control moisture and heat. And no rain in the forecast . Seed laying on ground does poorly, if anything under those conditions. This why planning for drought , monsoon, heat, cold is important for land management. I'm not worried of my plots and their eventual success as they are not monoculture plantings, but it is stressful to look at a sea of brown. Living in the mountains is better than many since odds are good that those mountains will catch upslope moisture sometime in future.
TnM works best if soil is soft, thatch is available in moderation, and moisture occurs at planting or soon after. My brassica would need be planted by mid Aug at latest for good tubor growth before my average frost early Oct.
Now IF rains do come late summer/early fall I will throw grains any time from early Sept to mid Nov with good success. And if you have followed my threads, you have seen I depend on self reseeding of clovers, grains , and brassica in my fields with little worry of replanting these days. BUT drought throws a curve ball and I'll have to see what plan I follow.
There are good things that happen with hard droughts and I will address those later when time allows. Good luck with your plantings.

 

[BoneCrusher20]

2 months ago i was the one complaining about lack of rainfall...now in the past month we've had repeated storms roll in w/ large rainfalls. Last week 4.5" and then 2 days ago 2.5" and week before that had 1", 2", and a couple other 1" storms in July...so strange.

Keep praying on rain for you.

 

[dogghr]

2 months ago i was the one complaining about lack of rainfall...now in the past month we've had repeated storms roll in w/ large rainfalls. Last week 4.5" and then 2 days ago 2.5" and week before that had 1", 2", and a couple other 1" storms in July...so strange.

Keep praying on rain for you.

Glad you guys got rain. I know that area was desperate

 

[dogghr]

Couple quick comments.
I made a huge unknowing mistake my mowing my grains month ago in preperation for fall plantings. I vary each year as to whether I mow early or at planting. Had I known..... I would have let grains stand. This would have provided shading, wind control of moisture evaporation, heat control, and help retain moisture at plant growing level. But didn't plan for this and God did not let me know. I think he likes to teach me lessons.
Second. Don't till. Tillage would increase moisture evaporation, loss of nutrients, and destruction of plant structure laying dormant within the soil ready to explode when conditions allow.
Third. Multiculture plantings circumvent climate variations. If I were to dig into the soil, I assure you moisture exists there.

 

[Elkaddict]

We’ve suffered from both early drought and way too much rain this year. We’ve probably lost 2+ acres of corn. In those drowned plots, some corn and beans survived but are severely stunted.

I killed off half of last years rye. The clover is holding on, but is struggling. Where I left the rye, the clover is as thick and lush as could be hoped for. I’m surprised with the results given all of the moisture we’ve received. Not sure I’ll kill off the rye again….

Does anyone know a “can we have average rainfall/weather dance”?

 

[Native Hunter]

Wow dogghr, I knew you had mentioned a drought, but I didn't know how severe. I hope you can get relief soon.

PS - I noticed how hard those poke weeds were browsed. Is that common or a result of lack of other forages due to the drought?

 

[dogghr]

Wow dogghr, I knew you had mentioned a drought, but I didn't know how severe. I hope you can get relief soon.

PS - I noticed how hard those poke weeds were browsed. Is that common or a result of lack of other forages due to the drought?

Typically only slight browse by deer. Bear demolish them. I used to have thicket of them in this area of pic and jumped 4 bear out of it as I walked by. Crapped my pants.
But another stupid move. I mowed this area this year to set back native growth to expand my plot. Which is now a desert. Should’ve left the native stuff.


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[SwampCat]

Flood killed most of my clover. I pretty much have nothing planted that a deer could eat - but there is plenty of native food. I am glad to see the hot dry weather. I have a 15 acre duck slough that used to go dry every summer and we would plant millet. Has gone dry once since 2014 - a d that was for a few weeks. Alligator weed has covered 90% of the open water. It is worthless for duck hunting. If it would dry out, I might be able to spray it and reclaim it. I have one other four acre duck hole the same way. This is more a normal summer to me. Last year I got 30” of rain in Aug and Sept. If you own bottomland - that kind of rain makes it where you cant even walk across it

 

[deer patch]

It’s dry here also and 10 miles north of me got 2.5” rain today while we got just enough to drip off the roof for a few minutes. It went north and south of us and it looked like rain split Kubota also today.

 

[dogghr]

Now I do have one survival plot. Sits in a ravine with good moisture and shaded. This clover plot is 12 years old. I sometimes will over seed brassica but since it’s a cool plot they don’t do very well. It always gets a dose of WR each fall.
My best buck plot as 6 of the bucks taken in 12 years have been near or in this plot. I don’t hunt my plots except sometimes late season. Always hunt 50-200 yds down wind of them to catch cruising scent checkers. Of course those stands are in or close to a Random Cluster.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Sometimes you need hot and dryer soils, other times cool and wet.
And no grief of grasses and weeds in this pic!! I don’t want my clover to know it’s been compromised!!

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[OkieKubota]

It’s dry here also and 10 miles north of me got 2.5” rain today while we got just enough to drip off the roof for a few minutes. It went north and south of us and it looked like rain split Kubota also today.

We got right on the edge of a good storm and got the light green effect of it for about 2 hours which was a moderate rain...perhaps 1/4” or so but just less than 1 mile north of me got nearly 3”...thankful,for what did fall and very thankful for the cooler temps on the backside of this front...

 

[coolbrze0]

Very dry here in the mountains of VA and extremely dry at the family farm in Fishersville. Worst my Uncle's seen in quite some time he said.

 

[weekender21]

You have heard me say often the farmer quote “ you are always only 7 days from a drought”. So true and I’ve seen it proven. It can be depressing to observe but having a multi use plan helps.
After a very wet spring the tap turned off in summer. Hot dry and a south facing farm are tough conditions.
Certainly no TnM planting for me this fall. With good rains and cooler temps the plots will rebound but we shall see.
Worse dry spell since owning the farm including the 3+ months of no rain late 2018 which was documented on my land thread.
Early summer

Now

Back up plan?? Fallow field management providing drought resistant food. Jumped a nice 10 pt as I neared this mess of ragweed, pokeweed, et al. I have about 10 ac of managed fallow field food plots.
Browse is present within the timber but even it looks wilted.

Chicory and alfalfa browsed to near nothing.

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That’s a rough drought! Looks like tropical storm Fred heard you calling for rain. Hopefully that moisture stays on a NE track into your neighborhood.


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[MarkDarvin]

I Have bare dirt from an excavation project this summer. I hooked 2.75” in July, otherwise, zero rain since April 6th. The filled areas are gonna start dying soon if the heat and drought don’t let up.

The perennial mixed plot isn’t even wilting. It’s growing on 18” of brush covered with pond fill. I mowed it last weekend.

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[KSQ2]

You have heard me say often the farmer quote “ you are always only 7 days from a drought”. So true and I’ve seen it proven. It can be depressing to observe but having a multi use plan helps.
After a very wet spring the tap turned off in summer. Hot dry and a south facing farm are tough conditions.
Certainly no TnM planting for me this fall. With good rains and cooler temps the plots will rebound but we shall see.
Worse dry spell since owning the farm including the 3+ months of no rain late 2018 which was documented on my land thread.
Early summer

Now

Back up plan?? Fallow field management providing drought resistant food. Jumped a nice 10 pt as I neared this mess of ragweed, pokeweed, et al. I have about 10 ac of managed fallow field food plots.
Browse is present within the timber but even it looks wilted.

Chicory and alfalfa browsed to near nothing.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Are you going to get some drought relief this week?