The "D" word...

[furrowtickler]

We have never lost a crop in October for the following year but judging by the cracks in the soil it will take a good rain to help and timely rains for a crop next year....

Imagine having inputs in for a 40 bpa crop and growing half that next year ....guys were concerned with the 36 bpa yields this year...4 bpa doesnt seem like a lot but on canola its 44 bucks an acre....adds up.

Thats something Neil Townsend does not understand.

Yup been there .
1/3 of our canola barely netted 35 this year due to hail .
Lots of 50’s and low 60’s all around us where no hail .
Like going to Vegas every year ..

[furrowtickler]

[ATTACH]6777[/ATTACH]
Palmer Drought Index.

Chuck, we're kinda hating it here too.

There are some interesting maps that can be generated from AAFC's Agroclimate Maps.

[ATTACH]6778[/ATTACH]

Last 365 days DEPARTURE FROM AVERAGE. It might look dramatic.....because it is.
The Ghetto is in the 140-180 millimeter deficit zone. And remember lines are a bit arbitrary.
Alot of rains that made up our total rainfall for the growing season were almost meaningless.
We've been net drying for a while now.....tapped out in the Ghetto.

Very weird dry spot just north of Lloyd
We are fortunate for a change here
Ground worked up very nice this week in all low areas .
NH3 started here in area , working very nice
We have some fert to do at the end of the week before freeze up starts

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Never had a disaster due to drought here. Some well below average grain crops in years like 02 and 03. In 02 we had 1" of rain over the summer, in 03, we had essentially 0. Hay and pasture were poor, but barley still yielded 50 bushels(which is a disaster compared to normal, but amazing considering the conditions), much better in ground with more OM, manure, and better varieties. Knowing what we know now, and changes we have made, probably could have grown record crops both years, similar to what we did in 2018, 2017 with virtually no rain.

Our disasters are too wet, and untimely hail. Like 2013 when hail hit 98% of our acres. Regrew then froze. Baled almost all barley, there was nothing to combine.

[malleefarmer]

I sure hope things turn around.

Im guessing from posts over the years that winter actually brings little rain fall.

Mostly mid spring onwards to fall so your wet season is only 8 or 9 minths or less?

[farmaholic]

I sure hope things turn around.

Im guessing from posts over the years that winter actually brings little rain fall.

Mostly mid spring onwards to fall so your wet season is only 8 or 9 minths or less?

We really don't want any amount of "rain" after November 1, that can turn us into the world's largest outdoor skating rink. It should be snow during the winter. And there's been years of plenty of it too. Unless we get a super slow melt in spring that gives it a bit of a chance to soak in near where it fell, a fast melt only ends up filling the "glory holes". Too much water in a glory hole and you get nothing out of them either. Although ours in the Ghetto are so dry they could end up soaking most of it up. Go into winter with a fairly full soil profile and most of the snow melt just runs off into the low spots (glory holes).

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Essentially at desert here in the wintertime.

I sure hope things turn around.

Im guessing from posts over the years that winter actually brings little rain fall.

Mostly mid spring onwards to fall so your wet season is only 8 or 9 minths or less?

[malleefarmer]

They sowed winter crops earlier than they usually would and, thanks to the regular rain, they can choose whether to cut it for hay, grain or for grazing.

Mrs Herbert said they had already stored two years' worth of livestock feed for future droughts.

This is from NSW were they are currently feasting after 2 years of famine

[Sheepwheat]

We average forty some inches of snow in a winter. Roughly equal to four inches of rain. We usually have ssllllooooowwwww melts, so lots soaks in. Lots runs off too though, no doubt about it.

July is our wettest month historically. Unusual for western Canada.

[woodland]

A Cowboy knows the Blessing of a Good Hard Rain !

I prefer mine slow and steady🌧

Unless the hay is ready to bale..............

[TSIPP]

Some of the dried out alkaline sloughs were blowing on Sunday, it was an absolute whiteout a mile wide, I’ve seen alkali blow but never this bad, now the stubble and green alfalfa are white. I would have taken a picture but my phone at 4 miles away wasn’t going to show much. I’m guessing the badgers won’t have trouble digging holes this winter.