Where's the Water?

At home on the range. Like most of the Midwest, dry.  The last time it rained was June 16th and it is definitely starting to show.  Not only is the grass turning brown and ponds are starting to dry up; but there is also the risk of grass fires. 

The landscape is turning very brown.

A large pond is completely dried up.

Grass

Lets start with the grass.  As the grass matures, it starts to lose nutritional value and increases in the amount of fiberous material, also known as lignin.  Lignin is the stiff support material that a plant develops as it grows older. The problem with lignin is that it is very "woody" making it difficult for a cow to digest. This causes longer digestion time and less time acquiring nutrients. 

We use a 1,000 gallon nurse tank with a gasoline transfer pump
 to speed up the process of hauling water.

Drinking Water

The lack of moisture is causing a large amount of our ponds to dry up to nothing, causing proactive measures to be taken.  About 5 days a week 1,000 gallons of water are hauled to my parents cattle. Although there is a creek running through the pasture that Alissa and I are renting, it is near drying up and we are now also hauling water to our cows.  Although our cows do not require as much water as my parents it is essential to have water available to the cows on such hot days.

Fires

On June 27 the severity of lack of moisture hit home as between 2,000 and 2,500 acres of land burnt within miles of home.  The extreme heat of around 116 degrees farenheit plus above 30 mph winds caused grass fires to burn and move extremely fast in the direction of much of our pasture land and homestead.

Within the 24 hours of drafting  this post, we received around .8 inches of rain.  The rain truly was a blessing from God, helping the grass hang and crops hang on a little longer and reducing the danger of fires.  Still, it takes numerous rains to refill ponds again.  So for now, a little rain helps a lot, but water must still be hauled at home on the range.