Did the hay get any rainfall in your area?

[PDF]

Heard some people got some rain?

[coppertop]

2" here. More forecast for early next week
but I don't really count on the weatherman.
The pastures look a lot better .

[grassfarmer]

Not enough - about .7 inch in total last week. Missed out on the heavier rains that wet some places north of us - seems to have been really mixed overall though. Some places completely dry, some quite wet. Pastures look good but are low yielding and 3 weeks behind usual. If it dries up/heats up as usual in July/ August it will be ugly in my area.

[coppertop]

We seem to be getting a lot of wind which
only serves to dry up what moisture we did
get.

[per]

Need rain here now. Rotational grazing requires regrowth and some growth while grazing. Winter supplies are put up where the worst crops are here. Going to be a long summer. Have good grass at the ranch in the foothills but will have to destock this fall to get through the winter.

[grassfarmer]

Same here Per - we need rain now but doesn't look like we will get it. At least when you run a managed grazing operation you have a better idea how much grass or regrowth you are getting and when you will run out. We have had two weeks of very good growth, first with the heat then with the little moisture we got last week. The last two days growth is slowing with more heat and a wind with it. Looks like we will have to reduce numbers somewhat too, never did that in 02 or 03. Grazed 6 quarters last year and had grass until mid January. Grazing 9 quarters this year with slightly more cattle and will be lucky to get to Nov. 1st at this rate.

[sagewood]

I am out here just east of Airdrie and we are horribly dry. There is not enough irrigation water for the boys and girls with crops and thus the canals are dry that feed water for cattle in this area. We are dependent on well water and keeping the cows close to home. I was in Calgary last night and it rained all over the pavement at Stampede Park, but I did not have to go far to see where the rain stopped. It follows the river valley and thus the city folks are wondering what we are all whining about with no rain--they never venture out of the cement jungle and when they do, they really don't notice that the countryside is burned up. We had 28 mm of rain for the month of June and less than that in May. So far in July nothing and the prediction is for showers on Mon. Showers are not going to carry any crops here. Canola is horrible--some has germinated, most has not--barley is short. Whether there will be enough to silage if we get early frost remains to be seen. This drought is worse than 1986 and 2002--at least we had early moisture in those years. I heard cull cow prices at a high of .52 on the noon broadcast. I suspect everyone will be culling heavily this year and culling early.