Here comes the sun heat and W I N D!

[farmaholic]

I'm soooo confident we are going to get rain that I am out spraying Authority this morning!

[grassfarmer]

One neighbour going hard yesterday in the windstorm. Floating fertiliser on and heavy harrowing it in with a planter going the other end of the field. Topsoil from the harrows was blowing over a 1/4 mile - when do some people get to the point of thinking "maybe this isn't a good idea"?

[TSIPP]

It's getting extremely dry in the dirt hills, it's already browned off, buckbrush and wolf willow is dropping leaves and almost bare.

This is year two it won't take many more years like this and cows in this area are going to be on the endangered species list.

A few miles east there's a nice 27 quarter ranch for sale, only 183,000 a quarter, it's pretty hard to get excited about adding some more dust to the ponderosa when it's this dry. That land is pretty close to the cheep stuff RB sold this spring, good luck to Shepherd realty. I'm praying for rain in the palliser triangle.

[farmaholic]

Neighbor's alfalfa stand, May 16/18...for a dairy. Sad. Not an oldstand either.

[sumdumguy]

Yep, and the problems are more immediate with livestock. Guys that are running out of feed now need grass now and for the summer and to grow feed for next winter and there are no crop insurance cheques forthcoming. A rancher always prays for rain - it's part of the job description.

Even if it did rain now, I think our alfalfa is pooched. It won’t even feed the gophers.

[TSIPP]

At least my dreams of ranching lasted 20 years. HA

[furrowtickler]

Still going around potholes here
They are slowly going away .
1 st seeded wheat up and can see the rows . Peas should be up next 2 days
Canola going in with planter
Soil getting tight , but moisture still good

[grassfarmer]

Even if it did rain now, I think our alfalfa is pooched. It won’t even feed the gophers.

The alfalfa seems to be having a particularly tough time compared to grass and I'm not sure why. Went into winter in decent shape, didn't winterkill but just painfully slow to come - then it got frosted a week ago. With the deeper taproots it should be able to access moisture easier than the grass which leads me to wonder if the main problem is still low soil temperature deeper down? We seeded a field last spring that is woeful. Cancelled seeding another field this spring and put in triticale on the weekend instead. We really need this inch of rain that's in the forecast desperately - hope all that need it get it and those that don't, don't.

[farmaholic]

It's so dry the Barn Swallows are importing mud to make their nests with

[furrowtickler]

Looks like another windy day or two ..