I think we are in a lot of trouble around here...

Do you lead them out to forage? that can ease your bill by 50%!

Horses will eat sprouts and pretty much any leafy green,sprout wheat grass and beans 3-7 days in a covered bucked for them. you can get a 2 day feed per horse for the price of a quart of wheat, just be sure it doesn't mold and watch it daily,when the sprouts are a little over a foot long, feed it to them.

P.S
Pinpoint your area on a map for me.on occasion I can make rain.

 

This is the very thing that got me over the weekend - hubby and I took a long drive checking out farmland in neighboring counties, and we were really struck by how dry it is everywhere. The corn fields are very spotty, at best, some starting to tassle even though they're short. And the leaves are closing up due to dryness and it looks like field after field of spears. What will livestock owners who depend on field corn do this year? This makes the second year of a bad corn crop in this area (last year there was too much rain into the spring that many farmers couldn't plant corn in time, and had to plant beans out of rotation).

Never thought about the hay, too, but it makes sense. I really feel for you. (and I really hate not being able to offer any ideas...) You and all livestock owners will be in our thoughts and prayers.

 

A idea...lease out a few of the horses to trusted friends with kids or local folks you can keep tabs on or lease to a young kid who wants to ride for a summer n only charge feed costs n keepem on your property n you take care of them. I know a few friends who do that here..its a win win..horses get lots of attention.you still keep them n only charge folks feed costs. Ive even had two friends hit me up to have a horse to ride over the summer as they didnt have time n knew id love it n missed riding. Anyways...just a idea..good luck

 

Tnfarmgirl..from a sorta Tn. farm girl many years ago, this gives us one more thing to pray for with our prayers for Colorado fires.
God bless all our farmers, those raising crops or livestock. Amen.

 

WOW!!! I'm glad you posted here, sometimes it's good just to vent. I guess I've been consumed w/ our own preps and the fires out west. I know it's been really hot at my mom's (KS) but I hadn't realized how bad it was elsewhere. Like JayJay, I'll be adding you and bumping up the rest of the country and farmers in my prayers.

 

Sell the mules if they are not working regularly now, they are costing you too much.

A small diesel tractor can be stored for decades, and can be pull started if the battery goes dead (or hand cranked like mine). Same with the fuel... it will last for decades if stored in a cool, dry place (out of the sun).

Change the water daily when sprouting.

 

I sure wish I could give you some of this south LA rain. Had rain everyday for almost 2 weeks. Got that tropical storm coming with more. If I could stretch a hose to your house I would. Thanks for posting. All the suggestions and discussions gives me one more thing to learn about. Sending prayers.

 

Corn around here got planted early.

Farmers with irrigation equipment are using it.

Farmers without irrigation corn is wilting...

 

we are about 100 miles north of you and haven't had rain to almost two weeks !! hit 103 at 2 pm here today.

 

I just posted on another thread (wild fire risk) about the Rainbow gathering in Cherokee NF. We are very dry, and with the 10,000 plus expected by July 4th, we are looking at a disaster potential. They are cooking on open fires and camping in the woods.

 

we have too much rain, i've only had a week of sun without rain in the last 6 months....and apparently we're meant to be at the end of the la nina cycle as well....so this weather is to be expected...maybe...lol

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/05/08/la-nia-is-dead-and-good-riddance/

 

See, this is my stupid question I think of in times as these..
esp. last year for dry Texas and surrounding flooding states.
We're brilliant 'fokes'..why can't we build a canal, catch rain in towers, and send it on its way to states experiencing droughts through pipes like gas pipelines..
Know what??? When it gets bad enough and we about starve, someone will!!!!:congrat:

 

Our grass is baked dry. Still have to mow the weeds though.

 

I will stop complaining immediately about all the rain and cool weather we've had so far. We didn't hit 65 today, it should be in the 90s! I have mushrooms growing all over my yard!! I will pray for the weather to break and rain to come where needed.....your drought will affect the whole U.S. so it's important we take an active interest in each others state and the hardships or blessings being manifested.

 

We've had a wet June up here. It helps keep the fires down but it sure is great for the mosquitoes. Our normal rainy season is end of Jul thru Aug. It'll be interesting to see what happens then. Been kind of cool except for a week or so of hot weather. Good luck to you there.

 

the farmers are always crying about one thing or another, the first 30 yrs of my life, minus 3 yrs military service, I ate breakfast with my parents and GPs who were dairy farmers and every meal, they complained about something, the price of milk, machinery,food,weather,shoes to tight ect,.. today I hear the local farmers still crying even with all the subsidies they get,some are getting paid for not planting any crops and many around have received million dollar pay offs from the gov to not develope their land.
I see dozens of large bales of hay rotting under hedge rows and land setting idle. I told my BiL to plant twenty acres of pinto beans and he could make a yrs wages selling them in fifty # bags right at the farm or on craigslist.

 

I'll repeat my first post...I have no solutions or advice..only God knows what will be...but you and yours in Tennessee, my home state for 57 years, and the home dwellers in the Colorado fires are in my prayers, as are our
Kentucky farmers and gardeners.
This affects us all and this we are sure of--livestock, vegetables, fruit, feed crops.
Peace ...Jayjay.

I have an email contact in Colorado Springs..they are evacuating nursing homes to other nursing homes...can we keep those in our prayers too? Thanks.