Drought

[DrWazzock]

Wheat and Spring oats dying off in the higher sandy patches now.
Had about 10mm since it stopped raining back in April. Missed the thunderstorms. Just about every delivery driver keeps going on about about how they had 30 mm or whatever, well, we have nothing significant here.

Every year something like this happens to the arable, particularly the cereals. Start to wonder if it's time for a big change to break the cycle of hard work, expectation and disappointment. Ranch it and do something else maybe. At least you can move the livestock round but crops dying of water shortage or at best losing yield can't be helped at all.

 

[puppet]

If it was ripening why is some of the field still green?View attachment 679630

Presume greener areas have retained more moisture but it takes a fair drought to kill it. Accept yields might suffer. If it had not headed I would be worried. Interesting to hear how it yields. A few showers might make all the difference.
I'm only a coo fermer from the north with a few inches of soil then rock.

 

[Breckland Boy]

Presume greener areas have retained more moisture but it takes a fair drought to kill it. Accept yields might suffer. If it had not headed I would be worried. Interesting to hear how it yields. A few showers might make all the difference.
I'm only a coo fermer from the north with a few inches of soil then rock.

Green areas have chalk or marl under the topsoil and will mature. The 'ripening' bits are over raw sand or gravel.

 

[TelesnaAg]

Does he still have his dealerships?

I believe so id have to check...its a long story but when i was in wa at a jd dealership it was the talk...

Ant...

 

[TelesnaAg]

Its as dry as an arabs sandle in most of oz...

Grain and hay skyrocketed...no elnino predicted so caught many off gaurd.

Cattle price cheap...sheep ok wool is having a run...

91% NSW is in drought.

Anyway meanwhile in portland im racing the rain to get my entrance way done for farm...so can get the praire maggots in to eat this wheat.

Lease block got some calves in to eat grass..its bolted grrr.

Ant...

 

[H200GT]

I see today that some forecasts making much less of the fronts that they have been predicting would come our way middle of next week.

Probably a bit early to tell yet, but todays 7 day forecast looks a lot drier than yesterday's.

 

[yellow belly]

Rain on one farm last night drains running this morning
No shortage here slug still causing problems

 

[DrWazzock]

7mm last night. Drains nowhere near running but it'll keep the wolf from the door. I thought that knocking down 12 acres of silage would bring it on.

Looks fairly black to the south tonight but dry weather forecast.

 

[Old McDonald]

I told my wife about this thread. She reckons you are all crackers if you are farming crops that cannot take a few weeks without rain. Change what you grow.

I bet none of you have ever experienced a proper drought in your farming careers. 1976 was just a bit of a dry spell. We do not expect any rain from about mid May until at least mid October and sometimes into November - say five months dry each year on average. That is nothing compared with what we experienced in Australia. It might not rain effectively for two years or more.

As my wife also remarked - it is not a drought until they are not banning the use of hosepipes in towns. They are not banning them because there is no water in the taps.

Try not having enough to drink as in La Paz for nearly two years.

 

[Chae1]

But your in Portugal growing olives?

Do you suggest we change what crops we grow based on 4 weeks of dry weather.

 

[Old McDonald]

There is a thread on Drought on this forum every year. If 4 weeks of dry weather has as bad an impact as some posters make out, then yes, I do suggest those people change their crops.

I farmed on the Black Isle before I moved here (Australia before that) and we never even had a dry spell.

 

[The Agrarian]

Last rain here was 14th may, nearly four weeks. It's a very very long time indeed since we had that length of time dry. I'm talking at least five years but can't accurately say. The last time we had a memorable dry spell was 1995. Northern Ireland is usually notable for too much rain. The usual weather, and the general terrain dictate that this area is almost entirely grassland, much of it intensively managed. Grass, as you probably realise, is a high consumer of water, and perennial ryegrass fits our usual rainfall and output and quality requirements. It's also worth noting that our grasses root in a shallow manner as a result of being heavily and frequently topfed with water and nutrients. So when an unusually long dry spell like this comes, it has quite an effect. Mind you, for the first while, most of us are only too delighted to see the clouds parting to reveal some blue.

Drought is relative. In our terms, this is getting pretty dry.

 

[ladycrofter]

There is a thread on Drought on this forum every year. If 4 weeks of dry weather has as bad an impact as some posters make out, then yes, I do suggest those people change their crops.

I farmed on the Black Isle before I moved here (Australia before that) and we never even had a dry spell.

Then come back here now boy, it is dust on Eilean Dubh. Yesterday we were drilling post holes down to almost 3' and it was dry all the way. Going to take a very serious lot of rain to remedy it now. The last rain fell for a few hours and the ground was dead dry the net day.

 

[glasshouse]

Drought is not an absolute term, it is a relative term.
4 weeks dry in northern ireland in the critical spring growth period is a drought.

 

[jpd]

i thought a drought was when the pub ran out of beer?

 

[Wombat]

We're quite dry, last rain of over 10mm was 4 weeks ago today. Couple of 6mm bits in between. One slightly gravely area of wheat suffering a bit and some spring barley after fodder beer where I levelled some wheelings up but would rather have this than 2012

Dry weather is so much nicer. Doing some drainage jobs that's needed doing for years, some fencing jobs etc shorts, t shirt and 4x4 trainers it really is glorious

 

[Neddy flanders]

accumulated rainfall for next fortnight shows didly squat

 

[yellow belly]

Looks dry in uk Poland has Ukraine and russia
No a bumper harvest over there we can stand a dry week or 2
On heavy land spring crops could do with some in 3 weeks time
Then dry to bring harvest forward

 

[Wombat]

Looks dry in uk Poland has Ukraine and russia
No a bumper harvest over there we can stand a dry week or 2
On heavy land spring crops could do with some in 3 weeks time
Then dry to bring harvest forward

Scandinavia also very dry talking to some friends over there. Think you must have had a lot more rain than we have this last 6 weeks it's very nice though

 

[michael N123]

Good hay weather