Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

It's one of those damn things that nothing works out the way you want. All the rain this spring was great, nut the thing I feared is coming true. It is turning hot and dry and the fire danger is going up very fast around here. I know I am still haying but a rainstorm would sure be nice to wet things down. Nothing in the forecast though. Just more hot, dry weather to make things worse. [sarcasm]How lucky I am.[/sarcasm]

Speaking of haying, things are going good on that front. All the alfalfa is down now and I am trying to get it baled up. Should be done with that by Monday afternoon or Tuesday. The fields on the Tullock side went about 1 and a third tons to the acre and the Sarpy fields are going about 2 tons to the acre. Pretty good yield for me. We are going to start cutting some grass hay this next week. We have about 250 acres that I plan to cut and another 200 acres I might cut if I feel we need the hay. If we don't need it for hay it will make good grazing for the cattle and I will leave it alone. That's the nice thing about these grass stands, they give me some options, as long as it doesn't burn up in a fire.

I was looking at the sales receipt for the drys I sold a week ago or so and got a real surprise. One bunch of 4 cows sold together that really surprised me. The sale yard will sort the cows for age and condition so that they can get the maximum price for a bunch of cattle. Hell, they get a commission on it so they want to see the highest price they can for cattle that go through the ring. Anyway, I recognized these 4 cows and couldn't figure out why they sold together,. There was a two year old and two three year olds cows together, which makes sense, and then of all damn things, a twelve year old cow. Now why in tarnation they mixed a twelve year old cow with these nice young cows is beyond me. The real surprising thing about this, the whole bunch brought .72 cents a pound. They brought more per pound than anything else I sold. A twelve year old dry cow bringing 72 cents a pound is unbelievable. She was in good shape, but not that good of shape. Somebody screwed up here but I won't complain. More money in my pocket.

I opened it up so the cows could move into a new pasture here a few days ago. They were chewing the grass down where they were and there was lots of grass in the nest pasture so it was time. Boy they found the gate and were really enjoying the fresh grass. It works out good too because I will start grazing that grass off and reducing the fire danger in that pasture. Less grass, less chance of a fire. Gotta be thinking ahead all the time.

I payed attention to the debate this last week over the immigration bill but never really commented on it here. I just wanted to say a couple of things about it. If people come across the border illegally, they are criminals and need to be shipped home, not given amnesty. Rewarding such behavior is not in the best interests of this country. The Government at all levels, fed, state and local should enforce the existing laws on illegal aliens and deport them. Now we need to address the question of why there are so many of these types of people here. That's simple, there are jobs here that pay better than the jobs where they come from. So we either need to raise the wages where they come from or offer a safe, easy, legal way for them to come here and work temporarily before they go back home. How to do this I don't know but that is what we need. We need more legal immigration and less illegal immigration. This country was founded and built by legal immigrants and legal ones aren't going to hurt us now. This illegal shit needs to stop though.

One of my regular readers, Genevieve, has bestowed upon me a 'Thinking Blogger Award.' Wow, thanks Genevieve, I appreciate it. I really don't do memes so I will just thank Genevieve for the honor and say that most blogs I read make me think and would honor all if I could but that's not the way things work.

The Fourth of July is coming up with all the fireworks and fun to be had by all. Remember it is getting dry out there so be careful with the fireworks. Don't want any problems, let's be safe and sane out there.

I would really like WildBlue Internet service explain to me how my bandwidth usage could be going up with my internet shut off. I have complained about this frequently and all they tell me is that it isn't there problem. I wish I had another option for Internet other than Satellite. I've heard Starband has gotten worse than they were before I dropped them for WildBlue so they no longer are an option. What a pain it is. Be glad if you live in a more populated area and have options. When your stuck like this to a certain service they can screw you coming and going.

Bounced around enough today. I know I haven't been posting much lately but I've been busy and not much has been catching my eye so thats the way it is.

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. Epicurus

It was a wet, misty day when I was up moving these cattle. You can tell by the clouds. Taken 5/21/2007.

I was going to try to cut a little hay down yesterday so I could get the haying started. I always say the hay doesn't dry standing up, but it definitely doesn't dry when it rains. Yes, again we got another half inch of rain and now have to wait until the ground is dry enough to try to do a little cutting. It was really humid yesterday so it didn't dry much so I am hoping maybe tomorrow we can cut. The weather service keeps calling for a chance of thunderstorms but I will chance that. If its just dry enough tomorrow. I would really like to get started haying.

There are a lot of levels and a lot of places to grow, you know, where you get to start and end. James Caviezel

It is totally unbelievable this year. After years of drought we are getting so much rain the country can't use it. It's all running off. Billings didn't get that much but the creeks around it are flooding from the greater amounts upcountry. Over 4 inches in the Pryors.

We got around 2-3 inches around here and the water is flowing down country. I don't have any good pictures because I am so high on the drainages that there isn't enough time for water to gather and run. Karen has a couple of good pictures of water running in her country though.

The storm was a pretty big one and covered a lot of country. Cody had some street flooding and other Wyoming communities got hit hard too.

Lame Deer school flooded and they are also worried about the Tongue River flooding with all the water that poured out of the sky in this country.

It's really hard to describe how I feel about all of this. We've had so many dry years that I hate to complain about the moisture, but isn't it enough. We don't need to make up for ten years of drought in a couple of months. It would be really nice to spread this over a little more time. Then I look at all the wonderful grass that is growing and all I can think about is the fire danger it will become if it turns hot and dry. I should be seeing fat cows and calves grazing on all the grass but I just can't. I guess the pessimist in me is taking over. I can't see the good side.

Let's see, the good side. Enough water to fill the reservoirs, but the only reservoir I rely on washed out this spring and I haven't gotten it fixed yet. Lots of green grass, but lots of fuel to catch fire and burn the country up. Lots of hay, but the fields are so muddy it will be forever before I can get into them to cut it and it will be too ripe then. Heavy calves come fall, but I'm sure the market will be down and they won't be worth anything.

Yep, the good side of things. I can't wait for the other shoe to fall.

Be at peace with your own soul, then heaven and earth will be at peace with you. St. Jerome

It's amazing the difference a year can make. Last year I would have given anything to get some rain. This year I am to the point I will give anything to get it to quit raining. It has rained the last 3 days here and we have gotten over 4 inches of rain. Total in the past month we have received over 8 inches of rain. More than all year last year I swear.

On Sunday I was gathering some drys and was riding across a hay field. It hadn't rained for 3 days at that point and the field was so wet the horse was sinking in to his hocks and water was splashing up at every step. It was like a damn swamp, that is for sure. No matter where I rode, a field or grass land, you would be going along fine and then all of a sudden find a soft spot and the horse would almost come to a full stop with his hooves buried in mud. Then this whole week it has been raining more.

WE DON'T NEED TO MAKE UP FOR YEARS OF DROUGHT WITH THIS MUCH RAIN IN ONE MONTH. It's just crazy.

I finally got a hired man hired. We went for a while with no nibbles for the job when all of a sudden there were 3 candidates for the job. I hired the best one I think but as usual I really don't think he will last long. He only took this job because a better paying job fell through elsewhere. I'll see though.

As soon as it dries out I need to get quite a few things done. Normally i would be putting bulls out today but the weather has been preventing me from getting some preliminaries done so they are going to be delayed a few days. Hopefully by the middle of next week i can get them out. I would like to get the rest of the dries out then too. Whether it will be dry enough I am not sure but I will find out.

Last year the alfalfa fields on the Sarpy side had some weevil in them but I let it go because the little bit of hay was not worth spraying. This year the weevil are eating the fields alive. It's too wet to spray right now but as soon as it is clear enough a guy is supposed to spray them. Fourteen dollars and acre to spray for weevil but there is enough hay on them to make it worth spraying so spray I will.

It's amazing the difference from one year to the next. It makes it a challenge all the time. I guess that is not a bad thing but it gets tiring once in a while. Can't things just be easy once in a while?

We don't change what we are, we change what we think what we are. Eric Butterworth

The difference between this year and last year is like the difference between night and day when it comes to the weather. Last year we got very little rain in this area and really suffered for it. This year, all it does is rain. Since last week we have gotten a rain shower of some kind almost every day and yesterday and today have been recieving rain at a staggering rate. Yesterday we got around an inch and a half of rain and I have no idea how much we have received overnight but it has to be another half an inch or more. What a difference a year makes.

The country looks green and wonderful with all the moisture and the hay is growing great guns. Hell, I've cut it mature with less growth than it has now and it is still growing like mad. Short of a disaster at this point, I will get more hay than I have for years. No complaints here.

Every bodies mood in the area is really great. It always amazes me how farmers and ranchers moods really are influenced by the weather. When the weather is cooperating they are in great spirits. When not, they range from grumpy to depressed. Right now everybody is almost euphoric.

The question I have is what will the weather do to us next? If it were all of a sudden to turn hot and dry all the moisture would cause a lot of grass growth which would then cause a really high fire danger as it dried out. Something to keep an eye on.

It is vain to talk of the interest of the community, without understanding what is the interest of the individual. Jeremy Bentham

UPDATE: We got a total of 2.3 inches of rain out of the storm. Quite nice.

Okay, this is ridiculous. It's the 8th of March and it's raining here. The ground is still frozen underneath and there is still snow and ice around in places. Adding rain to this slushy, muddy, icy, miserable ground we have around here is not necessary. It just makes the cattle, My Darling Wife, and me miserable.

Man is only miserable so far as he thinks himself so. Jacopo Sannazaro

I'm lucky. All it's seems to do lately is rain around here but that doesn't bother me. We are storing moisture in the ground for next year and actually growing a little grass. It's not good for all people though.

Rain could spoil record sugar beet harvest

Seldom does one hear a farmer complain of too much moisture.

"I am," Ralph Amen said Tuesday morning.

With his best-ever crop in the fields and three weeks behind normal harvest, Amen and other sugar beet farmers are getting nervous.

If the beets freeze, it will take the heart out a record crop for the Billings farmer-owned sugar refinery, which celebrated its 100th birthday this spring.
"You can't pile frozen beets," Amen said. "We've got to get 'em out of the ground."

"We need another 10 days to two weeks" of dry weather to finish the harvest, Shirley Michael said as she sat in her dump truck waiting to unload at the Western Sugar Cooperative refinery on the south edge of Billings. "We should have been finished by now."

Since the sugar beet campaign started i have been watching the farmers struggle with the harvest and at this point really feel for them. It would be horrible if they couldn't get their beets out of the ground. The weather forecast is looking good that it might dry up enough for them to get them out of the ground. Yesterday when I was in town I saw some trucks loaded with beets moving through town to the dump. The beets were a little muddy and the trucks were definitely muddy, I hear they are pulling them through the fields with tractors, but they were getting beets out of the ground. Hopefully they can continue.

Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace. Kent Nerburn

Unbelievable. It doesn't rain all summer and now it seems like it can't stop. When I went to bed last night we had 3/4" of rain and it rained most of the night so I don't know how much we had. I know it's getting ridiculous though. I noted last evening that the water is running off instead of soaking in. The ground at this time is so saturated it can't handle anymore.

I have been noticing some of the cool season grasses are starting to green up. A little warm, sunny weather and the green will really start showing up. I just wonder if it will get warm again. What a change.

I am also beginning to get worried about shipping on Friday. Right now the forecast looks......okay, but the have some warnings in it.

HOWEVER THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT NEED TO BE WATCHED. 12Z
ECMWF/GFS RUNS EACH SHOW THE UPPER FLOW REMAINING A BIT MORE
AMPLIFIED AND KEEP THE RIDGE AXIS A BIT FURTHER WEST...AND THIS
COULD POTENTIALLY LEAVE US PRONE TO ADDITIONAL BACKDOOR FRONTING
BY FRIDAY. A POTENTIAL PLAYER IN OUR WEATHER APPEARS TO BE WHAT IS
NOW TYPHOON YAGI OFF OF THE SOUTHEAST COAST OF JAPAN...AS THIS
WILL TRACK TOWARD THE BERING SEA AND GULF OF ALASKA OVER THE NEXT
SEVERAL DAYS. IF THIS FEATURE AIDS IN AMPLIFYING THE RIDGE FURTHER
WEST OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC...WHICH IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE...THAT
WOULD POTENTIALLY LEAVE US IN A COOLER NORTHWEST FLOW FOR DAYS 6
AND 7. WITH SUCH UNCERTAINTY IN HOW WELL THE MODELS WILL HANDLE
YAGI SEE NO REASON TO STRAY FROM GUIDANCE/ENSEMBLE MEAN TEMPS
WHICH ARE NEAR CLIMATOLOGY. DRY FORECAST STILL LOOKS GOOD FOR NOW.

So, of the many things I can worry about for shipping, I get to worry about Typhoon Yagi and how it will affect the weather here come about Friday. If it isn't one thing, it's another.

More moisture, but no record

The weekend's wet weather didn't break any records but certainly provided more moisture than normal.

.........

Other weekend rain totals, in inches, were: Joliet, 2.67; Red Lodge 2.44 (Saturday and Sunday); Nye 2.4; Derby Mountain, 1.93; Columbus, 1.93; Roundup, 1.24; Pompeys Pillar, 1.19; Hardin, 1.14; Hysham, 1.03, Ekalaka, .67; Livingston, .65; and Miles City, .52.

Head of Sarpy Creek, 2.60 inches. Hell of a rain storm. Glad to see it. I don't know if it is a record or not and I don't care. I just get to enjoy it.

There is a tragic clash between Truth and the world. Pure undistorted truth burns up the world. Nikolai Berdyaev

It even snowed for a while yesterday during the rain storm we were having. As I said earlier, Feast or Famine. By the time all is said and done I expect we will have 3 inches of moisture over the 3 day storm. Taken 9/16/2006.

I complained yesterday morning that all I was getting was rain showers and I needed a rain storm. I WAS WRONG!!! It flat is raining here. Right now we are looking at about 2.5 inches of rain and the weather service says it should rain all day yet today before this thing leaves.

Feast or Famine. Couldn't get any all summer and now in one storm we get enough for almost all summer. Unbelievable. I'll have some moisture in the ground now. Will it warm up enough to grow something? I hope. My mood sure is better, now I get to worry whether it will dry out enough to ship next week. I was worried about dust yesterday, now its mud. Definitely Feast or Famine.

We are all wrong so often that it amazes me that we can have any conviction at all over the direction of things to come. But we must. Jim Cramer

City sees 1st rain in a month

Billings on Friday received its first substantial rainfall in more than a month, officials said.

By 10 a.m., about .23 inches of rain had fallen on the city from a system that first rolled overhead about 9 p.m. Thursday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Carpenter. The last time the city received a "wetting rain" - .10 inches or more - was Aug. 12, he said.

I received about the same amount Friday morning myself. The only difference is instead of a month it's been closer to 3 months since we've seen a wetting rain down here. It sure was nice. The bad thing was it was so dry by noon we were kicking up dust again. It didn't go very far.

I hear it raining a little out this morning now and the forecast is for a good chance of rain all day. I've been watching this system for days hoping to get at least an inch of rain out of it. Now that it's here and watching the radar and reading the forecast I feel we are going to be lucky to get a half an inch of rain out of the system. The system is just not falling right to get much moisture in this area. Damn the bad luck. I was hoping for a rain storm, not rain showers but take what you can get, it's better than a kick in the ass.

Will it do me any good is the real question? An inch might have helped next years grass crop get started this fall but I don't know that a half an inch will be enough to get it going. It's late enough in the year that I don't know if any amount will give me any fall grazing growth. It would take an extraordinary set of conditions this late to see that and would definitely take more moisture than is being offered by these showers.

A nice rain storm would really help my spirits. These showers are just depressing though, why can't I get any more? I guess the Gods just aren't looking favorable on me.

Despair is the conclusion of fools. Benjamin Disraeli

Shamlessly stolen from Larry Gabriel, South Dakota Department of Agriculture

Rains of Confidence

A recent headline read, "Rural Confidence Hits Four Year Low." The story was based on a bank's annual survey of Australian farmers. It concluded that drought and rising input costs caused farmers to lose "confidence" that next year will be better.

Among the farmers surveyed, 57 percent expected conditions to get worse in the next 12 months due to drought.

Even though Australia's farmers are on the other side of world and the other side of the equator, they often suffer long-term drought the same time we do. Their drought has been ongoing for the last six years in some areas, just like the drought in the Western United States.

In reading that story, it occurred to me that massive media coverage of drought and its threat to our future may be a greater threat than the drought itself. Discouraging words have an effect.

A farmer or rancher without confidence (I prefer to call it faith) is in deep trouble. Farmers and ranchers depend on a production system that is largely subject to all the whims of nature, whether it be fire, flood, wind or drought. Almost all our products can be lost to nature at any moment, leaving us only with that old familiar saying, "There is always next year."

Maybe that is why farming and ranching are not viewed as ordinary businesses. Maybe no sensible businessman could stand to live with the risks we face. The risk of enormous loss faced every year for the potential of a small or modest profit margin is not the most desirable business model. Yet almost every farmer and rancher does just that.

Isn't it amazing how a little rain can improve attitudes, build confidence, restore faith and press our plans for "next year," even if this one was a disaster? That is an unmeasured value of rain.

August rains came too late for many crops in South Dakota, but those rains restore us as much as they restore the vegetation on which we depend for our livelihoods and on which the nation depends for its food. They were too late for the wheat crop, but just in time for the wheat farmer's faith in the next crop.

It rained a little on the drought area of Queensland a couple of weeks ago, and the news story about the above survey said widespread winter rains in New South Wales improved the confidence of farmers in that state. News of those rains yields some hope of something similar to follow in the middle of America.

Crops and grass cannot grow without adequate water. They need a certain amount of it at the right times to produce. Everyone recognizes that, but few notice the people's need for rain.

For the people of the land, every rain is a blessing that nourishes our belief that things will improve. Rain gives us the faith to invest in next year.

The loss of faith is far more dangerous than drought. When our faith is watered, we believe all will be well, if not now, next year.

So true, a little rain would wash away so much nrgativity around the country it isn't even funny. I don't see any coming but I am hoping.