Tennessee Drought

[tnokie]

Paper said this morning that on the week of june 3 last year a little over 4,000 cows were sold. The same week this year a little over10,000 were sold! People are selling out because pastures are dried up already and there is no hay making for the winter. At the local auction today really nice cow calf pairs were going for $650 to $680. Would be a good time to buy but then you would be in the same boat with no feed!

[Ken Scharabok]

I'm currently running 11 cow/calf pairs, one bull and one large heifer. As soon as my truck comes out of the shop (engine overhaul) likely four of those cow/calf pairs are goiing to the next auction and the bull in another month or so. I'd like to keep the heifer due to her coloring and family history, but...

First cutting of hay was 75% of last year. At this point it does not appear there will be a second cutting of any significance.

Guy renting large fields for crops and I have an agreement I can chop corn for feed with payment based on area I do so. However, his corn is also starting to show signs of no rain.

Some folks locally who grow sweetcorn allow me to chop the stalks once the ears are harvested. That will help a bit. Once the field corn is harvested I can turn whatever cattle I have left onto the subble.

Sold one cow/calf pair in May for $1,050. As you note $800 may be a good price now as they are still well filled out.

[Tango]

Throughout my community neighbors are selling considerable numbers even the ones that run very few head for their acreage. Where 4 rolls per acre was the norm here last spring, this spring it is less than 1 per acre. My springs are drying up and the pasture is drying in most places. Fortunately I don't keep anywhere near the animals I could for the size of the property but will be a hard summer... needing a contingency plan in case of fire or lack of water....

[topside1]

On the Cumberland Plateau things are quite dim. I have three dry streams, pond down 2-3 feet. Using city water to quench the livestock tremendous thirst is beginning to get costly. One measurable rainfall in the past 80 days (1/4 inch). A scheduled fall project has already begun, thinning out sapling out the woodlands...Although it's brutal hot it helps feed my small handful of steers. Between leaves, what's left of the pastures, feeding grain and hay I'll make it. But let me tell you this area looks devastated. On a bright note I'm able to Shepard my 19 goats to un-fenced green areas of my property so at least I have no worries there...Good luck folks, pray for rain.

Once more thing, the receipts for livestock sales have doubled at both the Cookeville and Crossville sale barns….No a pretty picture for cattleman.

[tn_junk]

I have a DF who is running a small farming operation near Lebanon, TN. When I went by to see him yesteday, he told me that he was thinking about selling out, lock stock and barrel.
Said he is at the age, 65, that he just doesn't have the stick-with-it-ness to go through this. His farm output this year will basically be zilch due to late frost and drought. His pasture is brown and crunchy, his little creek bone dry and his garden about worthless. Said it is costing him couple hundred dollars a month to feed his stock.
Would guess there are a lot of small farmers thinking along the same lines around here.

galump

[topside1]

Hard to believe, my homestead Topside 2 in Monterey Tennesse received 3/4 inches of rain....I just stood on the front porch and stared at the rain's beauty and power. Thank you....

[Tango]

We got an inch between Monday night and Tuesday morning. The garden perked up. Not enough to do much else but keep the area from spontaneously combusting for another week.

[kgchis]

We got an inch and 2 tenths in Northeast MS. We are in the same boat here. People are packing it in and selling out. I think we are 16 inches below average on rainfall.

So far I still have grass and have managed to get together 40 round bales of hay and 347 light square bales (about 60 lbs each). The square bales aren't the best in the world but at least I have something to feed.

[Ken Scharabok]

At least in TN the average head is less than 25 head. Lots of those small producers selling out will likely simply not get back into the cattle area. Locally hay is selling so well balers are calling around asking for field access.

[Donna]

same here in west tennessee it's been so dry we are going to need alot of rain to catch up. couple weeks ago it rained but the grass didn't really green up.

[topside1]

3/4 inch that I was lucky enough to receive, disappeared quickly and made little or no difference...oh well, sorry to complain...

[agmantoo]

Conditions are getting near desperate here in western NC also. I see hay being moved around daily and the pastures that have anything left would ignite with a spark IMO. The streams are dry or near dry on my place. I am watering from several small stock ponds. One of them is nearly mud. Another is covered with algee. A third pond has decent water remaining but is shallow. I have seen pics of water holes in Africa that were feces infested and covered with slime. What are the affects on cattle having to consume at best marginal quality water. We had a drought in 2003 but it was not to the extreme I am witnessing this year. I still have dry grass but I am having problems with calves testing the fences. I moved the earth ground on the electrified fence to a strand of fence wire as I am having trouble getting the shock needed to hold the cattle.

[Ken Scharabok]

My haul truck is still in the shop so I am going to have to hire someone locally for me to haul cattle to the next auction. Simply can't wait any longer.

I was going to hold the bull for a bit longer, but... He went in with the herd the middle of May, so five weeks now. Every cow in the herd (12) should have cycled by now at least once. May also sell a couple of the biggest calves, even though they are only for or so months old now.

In the same area as by trailer, but off to the side, there was once an old farm house. Built by the parents of the guy who still lives across the road. He was born in that house. Anyway, torn down some years ago. Neighbor said they had put in plumbing and a septic tank, but had forgotten where it or the lines were. Welll, I can sure tell now by a square brown area with distinctive drain lines leading off of it. Brown trails in the lawn.

Treated lumber on deck is starting to split badly in some areas.

My neighor put in one small garden he waters. Larger one he thought he would hold off for late crops, but dirt is so dry it is almost like sand. Even the weeds aren't growing much - which says something for how dry it is.

Crop field renter put in three large fields of corn. Perhaps mid-calf high when it should be at least to the shoulders by now. Still green, but it is starting to look like he might lose the entire planting. Even if he abandons it for this year, I would have concerns about turning my remaining cattle out on it due to possible toxic levels of nitrate.

Heard the story of another neighbor who, in one unusually dry year, would go out and cut down boxelder trees at the edges of the pastures for his cattle to eat. I don't have that option. I would have to cut from the woods and drag to the cattle.

[Paula]

We have way too many cows per acre with the drought. Won't even discuss horses .
We talked about taking a bunch of the cows to market about a month ago when the prices were still decent. It got put off.
Luckily dh has a lot of hay ground this year, but with how sparse the grass is it's a toss up whether to take the huge loss on selling the cows or spending a fortune in time and fuel cutting many many acres of hay and hoping it's enough. With the way it's going we won't even get a second cutting, unless we get some rain in late fall and cut in oct or nov. We can't even promise our regular few hay customers any hay at any price right now. Most of them are friends and it's really difficult to have to tell them no.
Selling horses isn't really much of an option, it's hard to give them away right now.
The animals do still have enough to eat, but have broken out twice onto an adjoining 300 acre farm that has no stock on it and hasn't been cut for hay. Luckily there's a renter on it who doesn't care, and the owner recently bought the property to eventually subdivide so doesn't really care. The ground has been promised to someone for hay though, we haven't found out who yet - we may end up paying them for their loss. Depends on if they rented it or are cutting it for free.
Our only hope not to lose a fortune is to try to sell more direct market beef. We do have a good number of cows the appropriate age for that, though we really hate to sell heifers for beef, and it's kind of hard to build up a large customer base that quickly.
It's pretty much a no win situation.
We are fortunate enough to have tons of water on the place at least, the springs are still flowing. If they dry up we will have no way to water the stock.
And topside, you apologized for complaining, lol.

[francismilker]

I hate to hear all of these drought reports from you guys/gals West of me. We were in the same shape last year in OK,KS,TX. This year, we've been blessed with floods! (literally floods) I've received 12"of rain this week alone and I'm not going to gripe a bit about it. The only problem is, we have plenty of hay to cut and no way to get into the fields. Every farmer who has laid down hay in the last 1-1/2 months has gotten it wet. Best of luck to you guys!

[Ken Scharabok]

Reminds me of the old joke a recession is when your neighbor loses their job, a depression is when you lose yours.

First batch to go won't be so bad. Four cow/calf pairs where I bought the cow last fall. Don't have much of an attachment to them - however nice they may me. Another cow is out of the first calves born on the farm after I arrived full time. Neighbor and I pulled her out of her momma. My first pull. She prolapsed after last calf so was going in the fall anyway. All of the remainder have names.

Would have liked to have kept the bull. Relatively mellowed with age. I can handfeed him. Still want to keep one large two-year heifer for her coloring, but she might be on a trailer before much longer. If so goes, then it is down to my personal favorites.