Its not drought but dare I say, its as annoying (now)

[Donlin Stud]

I know I should be grateful we are not in drought, but this is just as painful  - and there is more for this weekend.



PS: Click on the image to see all that water

Im purchasing floaties for the Dexters   ........

[genebo]

The earth must be unbalanced, with it being so wet on your side and so dry on my side.

We had no rain for a month prior to Saturday, and lots of the grass is crispy brown. The good thing is, there is still a lot of it and the cattle are eating it quite well, thank you!

If only you could train your Dexters to drink mass quantities of water, maybe you wouldn't flood so badly

[Deleted]

just think of all the grass you will have when the water goes down.

[Donlin Stud]

*LOL* Yes Dexterfarm, thats what we are now thinking.
The weather is unusually warm with overnight temps just as warmish.

But then, like a true farmer, we will complain about that too - well......we have started to become anxious

The kangaroos are gathering in large mobs on our place indicating lots of green shoots are appearing.
The Dexters are going through their Tetany and the Peak 50 (Vitamin, Minerals and Trace element block) like theres no tomorrow due to the imbalance of dry and green.
The produce shops are charging an arm and a leg for last years straw bales – the buggars !

And we are watching one of our miniature horses. Poor little man ‘Smarties’ was purchased from a carnival person (kids rides) when 7 along with a 25 year old friend ‘Polly’. We knew when we purchased him he was a founder from the size of his feet. He was an emotional purchase. Mmmm they both were as we knew where Polly was going to end up due to her age.
We can fix him we said.

2 years now and his feet are finally normal size. He founders less frequently and when he does, it appears to be shorter in time and in intensity BUT.......sudden green shoots, lots of....and he will be in trouble.
So we now have the added cost of probiotics for him trying to offset as much as possible by gearing up his tummy and system to attack the inflammation that’s going to come.

Located him down beyond those trees in the photo as we have 25 acres of overgrown, dense bushland that rarely is seen by anyone but the resident wallaby and wombat who reside down there in a hope there is enough balance of dry and green.
And the horses hate it down there as they cant stand at the back door for morning treats nor are they able to hassle the Dexters at their treat times . Its like jail for them
Fingers are crossed for him and the Bute (Painkiller) is onhand

See we whinge either way *LOL*

[lonecowhand]

Hi Donna , I'm reading in the BBC news that you all are having floods with at least one fatality, hoping that's not in your area and you and yours are okay.

Bill

[Donlin Stud]

Hi Bill

Not quite in our area no. Silly man drove through a flooed road that he has probably driven through many times before (he was elderly) but this time part of the road had blown out.
1 of his 3 dogs tied to the back of the ute also drowned.

The advertising on TV has been immense telling people do not drive through flooded roads as you cannot see underneath the water no matter how shallow they look - but they keep on doing it.
He was the second fatality this month.

Its been Australia's 3rd wettest winter on record, and spring is shaping up to also hit the record books re rainfall.

Keep telling hubby to do a naked rain dance to scare away the clouds but he just wont listen *L*

[genebo]

He must have done the dance, because it worked. The rain clouds came here last night instead of to you.

[LoriG]

We have had eleven inches in two days last week, here in this pic. Moving our cattle to a field on higher ground. So glad we reworked the property swails this summer. Most of the water was gone in 24 hours. Crazy isn't it?

[lonecowhand]

Hi LoriG, So looks like you have mostly Belted Galloways? Thats a lot of rain. It is crazy. You might consider Water Buffalo as well!

*LOL* Bill

[LoriG]

I have Dexters and beliefs. We cross them for beef and get a nice tasting result. As I have Colorado Dexters, I have been raising them for purchase to continue that line. This is what happens when you really like two kinds of cattle/ you get both and make it work 😊

[LoriG]

I hate spell check! Belteds!

[wvdexters]

This has been a very strange yr weather wise. Looking back - not a pretty spring. Dry for the most part and we lost most of our buds/fruits to that late hard freeze. Bummer! But then a very beautiful summer due to that ridge that brought all that moisture/rain over us. It was a lovely dark green and everything grew like crazy. We even had 13 1/2 ft sunflowers growing in the garden. (We measured because we just couldn't believe it!) The 4 1/2+ in we got that one day caused flooding down low and tore up our driveways but made our fields so beautiful.

And then straight to hot/dry with no rain to speak of. It's been so dry that the trees aren't doing their fall colors this yr. Just browning and dropping. And then 3+ in rain all at once again last wk!

[LoriG]

We too lost all of the fruit blossoms in our orchard/ even the Asian pear had only 10 fruit this fall and it forty feet tall. sigh. Too cold too wet too dry/ at least can fix the too dry with irrigated pastures if need be/ we soooo need to dry out!

[lakeportfarms]

Just for reference to those who didn't know, we have our Dexters pastured in an old apple orchard. There are at least 300 trees, all very old mature trees that probably are 60-80 years old now. Our problem, being right near Lake Huron, was that it never really warmed up enough to produce blossoms in the first place during the spring. We just got constant wind off the lake, so while 10 miles inland it may have been 60 degrees, we were still hovering around 40 degrees much of the spring. Our trees normally blossom around May 20 or so, and this year it didn't happen until the first couple of weeks in June. I also wonder if we were having problems with the pollination due to the constant cold temperature. The bees really didn't wake up in the cold weather to fly around and do their job. We have small and misshapen apples, which I understand is related to poor pollination. We don't keep hives on the property, but I think it's something I'm going to work on this winter and try to get some set up for next spring. I will be the bee keeper, Sheril doesn't like things that swarm...lol. Many of the large commercial orchards actually temporarily import bees in the spring to insure proper pollination.

[lonecowhand]

I think you are correct Hans, the bees wont work when it's cold. That has been a problem for early blooming trees like almonds around here, that coupled with the bee decline from neoniconoids and colony collapse disorder. Northern California is a major agricultural area , producing a lot of fruits and nuts for the rest of the country. All need rented bee hives for pollination.

For my own yard trees, I get out a soft art paintbrush, and I"m the bees. I don't need to pollinate all the flowers, only the ones I want to have a fruit! I can see that would be a problem with a hundred trees, however.It takes about a half hour per tree.

I've read that your cows relish the apple leaves (as well as the apples), I wondered if there is a risk in them eating the seeds of apples? I have heard the cows can't eat pitted fruit or their leaves, like peaches, cherries, plums.

Anybody have actual knowledge of this? Is this a myth?

Bill

[genebo]

Hans,

Wade Fisher makes his living by renting out bees for pollination. Look him up as the owner of Beauty of Paradise, here: www.legacydextercattleregistry.com/a_info.php?sec=1&aid=15665

[lakeportfarms]

Bill, they eat the apples (and seeds) with zero problems other than two things...possible choke, and overeating of the apples and the resulting sugar/carb overload. Both have happened to us, but it's much less common now that we let them eat them naturally as they fall. Forcing their consumption through shaking branches, etc...makes them want to eat every apple, and battle the others to "get their share". It is the hard crisp apple that helps cause the conditions for choke, as well as the tussle between the cows that cause them to try to eat them quickly to get to the next one.

I'm going to place my own hives. From what I've heard the hardest part of bee keeping is keeping them alive during the long cold winters here, however I think it's helped if you don't harvest all of the honey. A neighbor has also developed a way to tent the hives that allows for air circulation. Between the neighbor and one of our cow customers I'll be able to learn as much as possible how to manage them. Thanks for the tip, Gene.

Lots of projects around here prior to winter. After last spring I got so tired of the lack of drainage I'm really working on putting in some drains, ditches, and swales, as well as several ponds to help control the water. I finally broke down and purchased a good sized backhoe, because my tractor just wasn't enough to do the work, and I didn't have a backhoe attachment for it and I didn't think they are much good for anything other than little projects anyway. The backhoe will serve as a backup to the tractor for moving hay, etc...if necessary, and the front loader will probably come in handy for making big piles of snow in the winter months.

[Deleted]

Bill, the issue is cyanide and cherry are the worst for it. They have trace amounts of it all the time but under the right conditions the level can increase to toxic levels. When the fruit spoiled it is also possible for the leaves to build to a high enough level if the tree gets stressed. Frost damage can do it. I have some black cherry on my properties and never worry about it. they do nibble the leaves. But if say a storm were to come through and take a tree down it would be worth keeping the cows away from it.


Hans, a backhoe is a must have. Ours just sits most of the year but when we need it sure is is nice to have. Lots of projects here to. The current one is repairing a stream crossing that was washed out last year. preventing me from getting to the back of my property. I filled with a lot of concrete the last 2 weekends not as easy as it sounds. Needs to be placed in orderly and not just thrown in to do the job. Then topped with dirt to build up the driving surface. I have probably 3 more dump trucks full of dirt to add. I need it high enough that there is no possibility of high water topping it again. then the next project is hauling all of last winters manure to the hay fields and there are more projects after that but we will see when winter puts an end to fall work.
 

[lonecowhand]

Good thinkin' Hans! You'll not be sorry to have a backhoe available.

It's one of the only things that can never get stuck! (well, almost never.)

[lakeportfarms]

Well, the backhoe is great, I'm already enjoying having it around, until yesterday when I must have snagged a hydraulic hose running along the bottom side of the machine on a fallen apple tree branch. One more thing to repair...sigh! And since I can't raise the front bucket, I'll be repairing it in the middle of the pasture.

Trust me Bill, I'll find a way to get it stuck sooner or later.

[Deleted]

Mine is 2 wheel drive and with a big loader on the front and one bald rear tire not hard to get stuck at all. But you can always use the hoe to pull your self out. I have seen plenty of 4 wheel drive ones get stuck and have to use the hoe to pull out.
I count on having at least one hose blow every year. So far this year none have blown yet. There is a million hoses and to much money to just replace them all so we replace when they go.

[lonecowhand]

I probably should have clarified that although you can Stick'em, you can still use the on board hydraulics to un-stick'em!

Just the thing for muck, unless you've snagged a hose. What kind did you buy, Hans?

Donna, looks like a backhoe could be of use for drainage there as well!

Bill

[lakeportfarms]

It will be hard to get stuck, it's a Deere 410 4 wheel drive extend-a-hoe, turbo diesel. I'll find a way to stick it and send photos when I do :-) A neighbor that I buy some alfalfa hay from purchased a new one, and made me a deal on the old one I couldn't pass up on. Overall it's in pretty good condition. All the glass on the cab is intact, and I gave the cockpit a good cleaning and sometime I'll have to fix up the side panels with some new vinyl, which is ripped. It has a radio, heater, but no A/C, only a fan. I splurged a while back and got some Bose noise cancelling over the ear headphones with bluetooth (these headphones are amazing!) , so it will be fun to just go out relieve a little stress and dig my ponds...whatever...from time to time, listening to some music.