Drought Predictions

Here in Mid Western Wisconsin, we usually get harsh winters with a pile of snow, this winter we've gotten more than last year but nothing to be glad about, in addition to a dry fall.  Last night we got a thunderstorm........ in January....... In Wisconsin. Mother nature thinks she's funny and is playing games with us now! Luckily a neighbor took 35 acres of CRP out of the program last year so we got so big squares. Everyone buckle in cause its going to be another bumpy ride!  :-\

Here in central MI it's raining as I type this. Thunderstorms 2 nights in a row. The ground was frozen so most of it ran off. Tonight I see the puddles are going down fast which means the frost is breaking. It's supposed to freeze up again before the weekend though, which is more than welcome.

Here is western Colorado we received a good snow at Christmas then it got very cold for 20 days, we have just received about 1 inch of rain and another 6 inches of snow. This brings our snow pack back up to about 60% of normal in the high country, we are praying for snow, if we don't get back close to 100% there will be little or no irrigation water this summer and the majority of the cow herds in this area will be sold.

I have heard the bred cow market fell out of bed most places. They are just harvesting long out breds.

Here in Northeast Missouri we are much better than we were a year ago at this time.  This winter has been colder than last in general, and we've had more precip.  Just got 2.5 inches of rain.  The east half of the country looks to be recovering nicely from drought, the west half doesn't look good as far as moisture.  The nations cow herd looks to continue to shrink.  A lot of things are hinging on at least an average crop year.   JMO

We got 2 inches of rain last night but need several more to make up for the deficits that we still have from last year.

Positive thoughts manifest themselves. As hard as it is, keep the faith. If this cattle biz was easy, everybody would be doing it. Here to everyone getting the rain they need. I guess me having to sell most of the cows was a blessing. I'm feeding hay about every third day. I still have quiet a bit of grass.

It is -49 C ( -54F) here this morning, with the wind chill . We have been having wild swings in temperature and conditions all winter. Fortunately, we had no calves born the past couple of days and it is supposed to get much warmer tomorrow so I hope they all decide to stay inside where it is warm.  Another thing I am thankful for, is that all 12 water bowls were still thawed when I went out this morning. Also I was impressed that all the cows walked out into the field when I took some hay out. They don't seem to be minding it as much as I thought they would. When I checked my bull pen( there are 32 bulls in the pen) every bull was walking around in the pen. None were snuggled into the bedding. For those who are short of feed this winter please don't read any further!  I am bedding my cows with alfalfa hay. It is 4 and 5 years old and had some rain on it before it was baled, but the cows eat what they want and sleep on the rest.

I have seen these fluctuations before but they seem to be more common the past few years. It happens in the growing season as well, and sometimes the amount of moisture you get just depends where you are standing. Oftentimes some farms get good showers and have  great crops and other farms, in the same area, miss the showers time after time. It also seems to me, that we do not get the general rains we used to see, and depend more on showers to get us through the year. I'm not sure if this is a trend or if it is just my imagination.

I better head back out and finish feeding. I also better make sure the brass monkeys are inside. It may be a miserable day, but I still think days like this raising cattle, are still many times better than having to sit at a desk and just exist!  

You need to weigh tax conequences when selling cows. If they were boughten you may have a whale of a capital gains tax. They are ways to delay taxes also. You probably need to talk to a tax ag guy.

If you sell off 50,000 $ dollars worth of cows it adds up.