20 Feb Winter News Snippets

February 7, 2018

Farm News: Here in western Oklahoma we are in a stage 3 drought.  Many of our neighbors are wheat farmers and run cattle on the wheat during the winter.  But the drought has become so severe, that some farmers are having to sell their cattle early and at a poor price because their land cannot support the cattle.

We are also dealing with serious drought conditions, but because of the way Ron has been able to improve our pastures over the years, we still have plenty of forage for our grass fed herd.  With the increase in organic matter, our soil holds moisture better and longer than it used to.  With a rotational grazing system, cattle graze one area (and provide natural fertilizer) while letting other areas rest.  So, it’s good to see progress being made on our land, but we sure do join our neighbors in praying for rain!

 January 24, 2018

​Farm News:   There are still details to be worked out, but we’ve had several Providential opportunities come our way in the past few weeks.  We are working on finding a way to continue to stay in farming and I’ll let you know more as things unfold.

Cow Psychology Quiz: Ron was at Pastured Poultry meeting Monday and Tuesday, so I did all the cow chores.  We have the cows grazing in 2 paddocks that are side by side and we move them back and forth.  (Not to make our lives harder, but because of what’s growing in the different areas.)  I learned a while back that you cannot make a hairpin turn with a herd of cattle.  (As in the illustration below).  Every cow has to be moved out of the first paddock, into a holding area, before you turn them around and move them to the second.  Why is that?

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