How lack of rain affects our farm...

Finally some rain!!!!  We have had basically no rain since the end of July.  Maybe a light shower or two here and there, but barely anything measurable.  And no rain means no grass growing...which isn't good for a grass-fed beef farm.

As I've said before, in the spring when grass is growing faster than the cattle can keep up with, we make hay and store it for the winter months.  Last year we had enough rain in the late summer and into fall that we were able to let the cattle graze well into the fall...we didn't start feeding hay until November.

Not so this year - with no rain for over 6 weeks, the grass has pretty much quit growing.  And we have to be careful to not graze it TOO short for a number of reasons.  One, the root system needs protection of the grass cover.  And two, it takes longer for it to re-establish in the spring.

We fed the first hay of the season last Friday (Sept 19), earlier than we had hoped.  Now that we're finally getting some much-needed rain, is it too little/too late??  The shorter days slow down grass growth, too.  Will the grass grow enough to be able to graze a bit more yet this fall?  And if not, will we have enough hay to last until spring or will we have to buy some?  Hopefully we won't have to buy any...I'm hearing that hay is likely to be pretty expensive this winter, probably due to the dry summer.  These are all questions farmers constantly deal with, and the answers remain to be seen for this year!