Water, or lack of

[Guest]

Yes hafta admit, I am really enjoying this , must be a godsend for the hard workin livestock guys and gals !

[wade]

For years now, I have realized that I am at the mercy of mother nature.
What a relief knowing that the government can tax me and control mother/her/it/they/them/him/?? nature now.

[WiltonRanch]

Sure is easy on the feedstack but feeding as no snow to let cows run in the hills. Have sloughs but worry they’ll freeze to the bottom on particular fields.

[Guest]

For years now, I have realized that I am at the mercy of mother nature.
What a relief knowing that the government can tax me and control mother/her/it/they/them/him/?? nature now.

sounds stupid when you see it in print?

[makar]

Have a landlord who started charging rent on the sloughs seeded or not. Dunno if that tells us where in the cycle we are.

I do that otherwise my renter's will be raising moose where I grew wheat on land I wrestled back from mother nature. Being terrified of wet land is not my problem, I want it farmed at least as well as me until I am gone. I do however maintain such ground myself.

[blackpowder]

Situation specific I suppose. In this case, I haven't seen these dry since 03. And hoping they fill in again soon. 4 acre potholes. No drainage, no bush. Need to pump a lot.
% x FMV adjusted every two years.
Expecting $200/ac by 2026/27.
Plus my costs to bring it back, for 2-3 years usage. And the acre number won't ever go down. So $/ac on producing just higher is all. Always the case, I realize.
One has a drainage ditch right through it. Owner acquired it in 73, never farmed himself. Most was given. Won't drain it. Can't afford it LOL.
Hell, the ass in the seat is costing me $40/hr. Discs are $1400/day or $120,000 to buy. Pumps $????
Have to disc them, seeded or not because he's listening to input from someone else who wants the land.
Ain't family grand?
It's not the price, that's business, but ordering me to disc sloughs at my expense so they can fill in when it rains???
I wonder what kind of landlord I'll be?? Definitely not that.

[Guest]

With a smile on my face , I would tell him to go *** himself

[Old Cowzilla]

Got a couple of potholes I seed through that usually have water in them in a few days. I'M afraid if I don't I won't get the much needed rain afterwards!

[Sodbuster]

We try to seed our pot holes and runs after the rest of our land is done, last year we had 30 acres of wheat that yielded more than 2 semi’s. A lot of years rain claims them back, but just sucking moisture out of those area’s gives you a chance for next year’s country.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

This fall I took the initiative to make improvements on rented land. Fixing potholes, hauling manure to the poor areas, etc.
In the past, I've preferred to improve my own, vs. land which I may not farm long enough to get a payback. Then look back and realize that the same pothole or worn out patch costs just as much in lost yield over the years, if I own it or not. So will take my chances.

[furrowtickler]

We try to seed our pot holes and runs after the rest of our land is done, last year we had 30 acres of wheat that yielded more than 2 semi’s. A lot of years rain claims them back, but just sucking moisture out of those area’s gives you a chance for next year’s country.

The last few years we seeded about 100 ac of potholes . This year seeded through near everything . If it we not for those low areas our average yields would have been dismal.
yield were up to 4 x in pothole / low areas .
Did some drainage tile this fall on one big flat slough with a clay base . Hopefully it works as planned .

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Did some drainage tile this fall on one big flat slough with a clay base . Hopefully it works as planned .

Did that require approvals through all the appropriate bureaucracies? That is exactly what we need around here, but the red tape makes it nearly impossible.