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Rural drought update
Sep. 4th, 2011 12:21 pmI went to the county fair in my hometown today and in the education barn, I had a chance to talk to a forest ranger. She told me that in our immediate area, the fire danger is very high this year (no surprise!) but they've had fewer wildfires than they expected given the conditions. The largest one has been 200 acres. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
Around the corner, the county extension agency booth was advertising an upcoming Drought Management Workshop with topics including:
* Getting Through the Winter with Small Grains
* Making Your Farm Resilient to Drought
* Stretching Your Hay with Crop Residues and By-Product Feeds
* Tax Implications of Selling Your Cowherd
Not that the farmers and ranchers are anywhere close to being out of the woods, so to speak, but I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the farm to see a green tinge to the pasture, and some actual growth to the grass in the lawn, which receives no artificial watering. We're actually going to have to mow the grass for the first time since early June! And the horses have more forage. The pond is still pitifully dry, but just to see some green growth is nice.
It's kind of odd; there's a tropical storm hitting the Gulf Coast right now, and that's going to cause trouble for some folks, but just as often as discussion of the possible disastrous flooding, it's more along the lines of "What will this mean for the drought?" So many people want as much of that rain as they can get. The official meteorology sources in my area are reporting the storm mainly as "How much rain will be delivered to the places that need it most?" (The answer: not much, if any, alas.)
Around the corner, the county extension agency booth was advertising an upcoming Drought Management Workshop with topics including:
* Making Your Farm Resilient to Drought
* Stretching Your Hay with Crop Residues and By-Product Feeds
* Tax Implications of Selling Your Cowherd
Not that the farmers and ranchers are anywhere close to being out of the woods, so to speak, but I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the farm to see a green tinge to the pasture, and some actual growth to the grass in the lawn, which receives no artificial watering. We're actually going to have to mow the grass for the first time since early June! And the horses have more forage. The pond is still pitifully dry, but just to see some green growth is nice.
It's kind of odd; there's a tropical storm hitting the Gulf Coast right now, and that's going to cause trouble for some folks, but just as often as discussion of the possible disastrous flooding, it's more along the lines of "What will this mean for the drought?" So many people want as much of that rain as they can get. The official meteorology sources in my area are reporting the storm mainly as "How much rain will be delivered to the places that need it most?" (The answer: not much, if any, alas.)