Hay Dude

It’s being called the worst single-year drought in Texas history, although I know there have been some that lasted 5 or 7 years.  For a heart-breaking novel about one of those long ones read The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton.  I read another one a couple of years ago about the Dust Bowl that was about the most depressing book I’ve ever read.  But this has been plenty bad.

The pastures have looked like August since early June.  We weren’t overstocked so we’re not in as bad shape as some folks, but there’s precious little grass.  We had a 4-inch rain on Oct 8 and it has been amazing to see the land respond.  It’s a little too cool now for any actual grass growth, but it got quite green and I’m sure the plants produced some of the nutrients they store in their root systems to be ready for spring.  It was so dry when it was time to fertilize the Coastal in April that I didn’t do it.  Now that I see it can still rain, I’d like to spread some dry fertilizer but I think the growing season is over and will probably wait.  I’ve been feeding one or two bales of hay a week since the pasture grass is so short and will soon start feeding one every day. Altogether I have about 140 bales and that should get us through the winter if we get some rain.  We had some small square bales of Coastal left in the barn from last year and Kathy and I bought 30 bales of Brome on one of our Wichita trips, so that’s what the horses will eat this winter.

Our hay crops were really hammered by the drought.  We only cut a little bit of Coastal at the Gamblin place and none in the field above the house.  Our planted Sudan at the Sycamore, Ischy’s and Wesley’s made less than half what we made last year.  We weren’t alone, of course, and any trip you take up or down I-35 you’ll see truck after truck loaded with hay from Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas headed for Texas.  Larry and I bought 60 bales from Kansas and had it trucked down here, not an inexpensive proposition.  Our hay arrangement with Steve Ischy is working well.  We pay him $9 per bale of hay we produce on his fields and we plow, plant, fertilize and bale at our expense.  Don Opersteny, who owns Garlon Streater’s place, has about 60 acres of Klein grass and 10 of Coastal and we’re trying to get into some kind of similar long-term hay lease with him.  They’re nice fields and very close to home.  I never used to like farming, but I’m beginning to think it’s kind of fun.  I enjoy seeing the seasons set by the land and the weather, not a printed production schedule.  It’s good for my patience and humility.

Lawrence and I planted 13 acres of oats in the field above the house on Sept 10.  We planted into dry dusty ground, but we’ve had a little rain since and they’ve come up and are green.  If we can get a good stand there, we’ll be able to bring the cows up to graze them and let the pasture grass rest and recuperate.

We’re having a little shower now--nothing like what Kansas and Oklahoma are having, but enough to make it nice to go get a cup of coffee and sit in the porch swing and watch.  Life is good.