Drought 2023!

[In the pit]

that doesnt look similar at all to me

Just got dryer 3 weeks earlier but similar growth

 

[som farmer]

Daffodil leaves already brown, clouds of dust off destoners working in the area, ditches all dried up, signs of drought appearing everywhere here. Incessant wind for the last 2 weeks has been the problem here.

we farm sandy loams, on south facing exposed slopes, its the wind, and sun, that does for us, rainfall tends to come in heavier downpours, which run off, rather than soak in.

we had 'flash flooding' here last week, land slips, houses flooded, even made the main news on TV, we had new lakes in fields, horrendous. Within hours, water levels returned to normal, lakes went, stream through our garden rose 6ft, 4 hrs, back to normal. Other than the houses that were flooded, you wouldn't really know it had happened.

 

[nails]

2 weeks time will be a month since we last had rain, at this time of year of year that will soon stop my grass from growing. But a month without rain in Cornwall is very unusual

No , i am just saying that the way the weather is getting more extreme , stocking density might have to be re assessed. What worked for your farm 30 years ago might not work now. There is no doubt that weather patterns are changing for whatever reason

 

[nails]

Doesn't matter how many cows to the acre you have, could be 10 or could be 0.1 if there's no rain you're overstocked

Well no not really because managing grazing in a drier climate is about keeping a "cover" for as long as possible .Less cows will extend that although obviously with zero rain that will come to an end as well

 

[nails]

I'd say most ppl would have struggled last year without feeding something out supplementary and the hand over from it continues with the expense of it all , if Ur grass is burnt up it's burnt up and won't feed any amount large or small if it's just not there and turned to concrete dustbowl !

Yes a lot did struggle for grazing and adequate forage stocks last summer. That is bound to happen in some years . What i mean is that if it is happening frequently on your farm you might have to adapt your system rather than fight it .

 

[Jdunn55]

Well no not really because managing grazing in a drier climate is about keeping a "cover" for as long as possible .Less cows will extend that although obviously with zero rain that will come to an end as well

Dairy cows don't milk on sticks and seeds so stupidly high grazing covers wouldn't work as they do for beef cattle and sheep on mob grazing systems

The only way to extend rotations in order to increase cover lengths is to introduce silage or sell cows in order to reduce the ha required each day thereby increasing the number of days between grazings

It's also very possible for grass to disappear, plenty on here will admit to grass being at 2500kgdm one day and come back a week later in a drought and it's back to 2000 or less, so you would have been better off increasing the speed of the round and grazing at 2500...

 

[nails]

Dairy cows don't milk on sticks and seeds so stupidly high grazing covers wouldn't work as they do for beef cattle and sheep on mob grazing systems

The only way to extend rotations in order to increase cover lengths is to introduce silage or sell cows in order to reduce the ha required each day thereby increasing the number of days between grazings

It's also very possible for grass to disappear, plenty on here will admit to grass being at 2500kgdm one day and come back a week later in a drought and it's back to 2000 or less, so you would have been better off increasing the speed of the round and grazing at 2500...

Yes that is what i implied , reduce the stocking rate so the grass lasts longer hence my original comment about stocking rate. If the climate continues to change causing frequent grazing shortages in some areas surely the best option is to adapt to it. As an aside Ryegrass is notorious for giving up in dry conditions so grass mixtures need to alter as well.

 

[som farmer]

Dairy cows don't milk on sticks and seeds so stupidly high grazing covers wouldn't work as they do for beef cattle and sheep on mob grazing systems

The only way to extend rotations in order to increase cover lengths is to introduce silage or sell cows in order to reduce the ha required each day thereby increasing the number of days between grazings

It's also very possible for grass to disappear, plenty on here will admit to grass being at 2500kgdm one day and come back a week later in a drought and it's back to 2000 or less, so you would have been better off increasing the speed of the round and grazing at 2500...

they will milk on longer grass than you think, but seed heads no.

prg is fudging useless when it gets dry, just sends up seed heads. C/foot, fesques herbs etc, don't, reckon they extend our season nicely.

we extend our rotation, by cutting everything we can, as early as we can, start 2nd cut thurs, 3rd cut might be september, if it dries out, plenty of run then.

ground cover is crucial.

uncle had a CI herd, dry farm, those cows would eat and milk, on ideal cutting stage for nice hay. When he swapped over to hols, they lost weight, and milk.

 

[celtis man]

they will milk on longer grass than you think, but seed heads no.

prg is fudging useless when it gets dry, just sends up seed heads. C/foot, fesques herbs etc, don't, reckon they extend our season nicely.

we extend our rotation, by cutting everything we can, as early as we can, start 2nd cut thurs, 3rd cut might be september, if it dries out, plenty of run then.

ground cover is crucial.

uncle had a CI herd, dry farm, those cows would eat and milk, on ideal cutting stage for nice hay. When he swapped over to hols, they lost weight, and milk.

By reading some of your comments I don't think you quite get it with the dry weather... You don't get it that it's not the dry it's the damn wind that causes the problem sucking all the moisture out of the ground.
We are all cutting grass like hell to stop the wind taking it from In front your eyes.
The only way to save your self is to cull more cows earlier than planned and hope for some rain.

 

[Headless chicken]

How long have others got left on their platforms before you start feeding? Nothing on the forecast here in terms of rain so suspect we’ll have to start feeding next week

 

[som farmer]

By reading some of your comments I don't think you quite get it with the dry weather... You don't get it that it's not the dry it's the damn wind that causes the problem sucking all the moisture out of the ground.
We are all cutting grass like hell to stop the wind taking it from In front your eyes.
The only way to save your self is to cull more cows earlier than planned and hope for some rain.

used to think it was the rain missing us, that was only a part of the problem.
Free draining soils, south facing slopes, exposed, its the addition of the wind and sun, that killed us off.

We just used to panic, growing 30/40 acres of forage rape, for summer grazing, and still forced to buy fodder, nearly sold the dairy.

Now we just farm round it, grow different grasses, added herbs etc, they extend the grazing about 4/5 weeks longer than prg. Swapped our calving back to autumn, from spring, swapped grazing cows back to more holstein types. They are dry in the worst months

We do graze longer covers, leaving longer recovery times, just starting our second round of grazing. The cows are milking well on it, they are back in calf, nutrient requirement, is less.

If l was asked the best things we have done, the answer would be, non inversion tillage, and maintaining ground cover, from those two, its better crops, that suit the ground better, rotational grazing, and some luck.

Our policy, cut everything we can, as it gets to 'ideal' stage, as early as we can, even if it means splitting a cut. The early 'bit', to help get a second cut, all cut today, 65 acres. 30 acres of that, will go into maize, asap.
From what we have found, that ground cover, helps retain the moisture, maize goes into warm soil, and away it goes. 5 yrs ago, that late drilling, would have given me 'extreme concern'.

The other point we do, is to concentrate on soil health, healthier it is, the better it retains moisture.

And research, there's millions of hectares around the world, that are semi arid, and very successfully farmed, just because they do things differently than us, we need to learn what/how they farm. Instead, esp reps, we ridicule those methods, instead of trying them. They have it sorted, we don't.

and having cut 2nd cut, there will be a fair heap, 3rd cut, might not happen till the autumn, giving us plenty of grass to graze/browse, if it turns dry. If we get enough rain, top quality multi cut silage, in big quantities.

 

[Lakes Nash]

We have had no rain since the last bank holiday Monday, then it was only a few hours, most of the streams/rivers are really low, some on higher ground are dry, 1 field we haven‘t even rolled as it got far to hard, unusual for our part of world to be so dry so early,

 

[som farmer]

We have had no rain since the last bank holiday Monday, then it was only a few hours, most of the streams/rivers are really low, some on higher ground are dry, 1 field we haven‘t even rolled as it got far to hard, unusual for our part of world to be so dry so early,

and we had severe flash flooding last week. But you wouldn't know it now.

 

[Spudley]

Should be OK for a little while let. I've got 7 acres that could have been baled as it's gone strong but as there's no rain in the forecast the cows can have it. I just can't get my head round mowing for bales and then feeding 2 weeks later. But we are not pushing the cows and they are quite happy on long grass.

 

[Tirglas]

Should be OK for a little while let. I've got 7 acres that could have been baled as it's gone strong but as there's no rain in the forecast the cows can have it. I just can't get my head round mowing for bales and then feeding 2 weeks later. But we are not pushing the cows and they are quite happy on long grass.

I've got some down for bales!!! Growth still ahead of demand but will fall off a cliff no doubt. Always been overly pessimistic in the past and grazing high covers more often than not, but pushed myself to focus on grass quality this year!

Probably taken 3 precious days off the round and will have to be careful going forward. Got clamp still that I wouldn't mind clearing if we need to fill a hole in the wedge later on

 

[Farmer Roy]

used to think it was the rain missing us, that was only a part of the problem.
Free draining soils, south facing slopes, exposed, its the addition of the wind and sun, that killed us off.

We just used to panic, growing 30/40 acres of forage rape, for summer grazing, and still forced to buy fodder, nearly sold the dairy.

Now we just farm round it, grow different grasses, added herbs etc, they extend the grazing about 4/5 weeks longer than prg. Swapped our calving back to autumn, from spring, swapped grazing cows back to more holstein types. They are dry in the worst months

We do graze longer covers, leaving longer recovery times, just starting our second round of grazing. The cows are milking well on it, they are back in calf, nutrient requirement, is less.

If l was asked the best things we have done, the answer would be, non inversion tillage, and maintaining ground cover, from those two, its better crops, that suit the ground better, rotational grazing, and some luck.

Our policy, cut everything we can, as it gets to 'ideal' stage, as early as we can, even if it means splitting a cut. The early 'bit', to help get a second cut, all cut today, 65 acres. 30 acres of that, will go into maize, asap.
From what we have found, that ground cover, helps retain the moisture, maize goes into warm soil, and away it goes. 5 yrs ago, that late drilling, would have given me 'extreme concern'.

The other point we do, is to concentrate on soil health, healthier it is, the better it retains moisture.

And research, there's millions of hectares around the world, that are semi arid, and very successfully farmed, just because they do things differently than us, we need to learn what/how they farm. Instead, esp reps, we ridicule those methods, instead of trying them. They have it sorted, we don't.

and having cut 2nd cut, there will be a fair heap, 3rd cut, might not happen till the autumn, giving us plenty of grass to graze/browse, if it turns dry. If we get enough rain, top quality multi cut silage, in big quantities.

there are a LOT of cattle produced in the world in arid conditions, with no supplementary feeding.

Las Damas Ranch Case Study - Understanding Ag

Las Damas Ranch, Aldama County, Chihuahua, Mexico Introduction The Las Damas Ranch in Aldama County, Chihuahua, Mexico is owned and operated by Alejandro

understandingag.com

 

[In the pit]

“”For most ranches in the area (operating conventionally), 150 to over 200 acres are required to support a single cow and calf unit””

And there’s the bit about arid conditions “stocking rates are a lot less than a cow to the acre”

 

[Spudley]

I've got some down for bales!!! Growth still ahead of demand but will fall off a cliff no doubt. Always been overly pessimistic in the past and grazing high covers more often than not, but pushed myself to focus on grass quality this year!

Probably taken 3 precious days off the round and will have to be careful going forward. Got clamp still that I wouldn't mind clearing if we need to fill a hole in the wedge later on

Rightly or wrongly we would only on pain of death open the clamp in the summer! I'd rather graze silage fields if we were short.

 

[kp_n_plghng]

I think everyone would take that option if it was feasible

 

[DairyNerd]

Rightly or wrongly we would only on pain of death open the clamp in the summer! I'd rather graze silage fields if we were short.

We had to open it last summer and it did not work, too much heating, didn't get across the face quick enough, a lot of waste and cows dropped milk. Would now favour pushing up pre-graze covers first and extending the rotation, going up to 3300 or 3500 rather than 2800-3000 will keep you going a lot longer and quality will still be good. We are grazing at those covers this year anyway and cows are milking just as well and i am not (yet) constantly praying for rain.