Perhaps it is hard for those who live in cities to quite appreciate the strain which unfortunate weather can put on farmers. It seems like such a little thing, when radio announcers are confidently talking about glorious sunshine, beach weather and bright days.
We can't hope to communicate the situation in an entirely personal fashion, but watching a lamb nose around in dry grass for something succulent, watching the grass stop growing, and as it gets gradually grazed down, exposing the dust beneath, watching the water in troughs fall by inches every day as thirsty animals try to make up for what their grazing can't give them, fills one with a sense of impotence.
Dryland farmers are doubtless laughing at the idea that two or three rainless months are much trouble, and in the big picture they are right, of course, but when one's pasture consists of plants which are used to frequent water, and which quickly suffer heat and drought stress, even a single dry month can really change things in a hurry. Three months is not catastrophic, but very troublesome.
The older trees have enough roots that they can water themselves from the water table, but we may well have lost a few dozen of the younger ones. One hopes that the losses will be fewer than that, but dessicated leaves on young twigs tell their own story.
This morning at last the rains have come, gentle but apparently enduring rains which start to soak the earth. We are trying to balance the activities of our grazers so that dust does not immediately transmute to mud, but in the end the rain is so welcome that this is a vastly preferable problem to have.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
Hot and dry Autumn
August, September and now the first days of October have been nearly universally warm and dry. Save for a little dew in the mornings, there has been no real relief. The pastures are dry, and it is easy to pick out where water troughs have overflowed by the patches of greenery.
Some of last year's trees (which were largely seconds, not prime picks from the nursery) show signs of severe drought stress, and some will surely succumb. Since we lack the permit to irrigate, we have to take it as it comes and accept the losses where they occur.
The sheep and the birds alike have been going through a lot of water, but we need no permit to water them. This is good, because especially the sheep have been grazing the dry pastures and they need their water to keep up.
We are now past the autumnal equinox, and the days are rapidly growing shorter. This gives some relief, and the days are cooling down, but it also means that we largely missed the late season growth spurt for lack of water.
There is some good news, at least. All of our cultivated land is now enclosed, so that the sheep can engage in weed control all over. We will have to have them inspected soon, and divided for the mating season. Already the rams are showing signs of rutting temper.
We went to Oregon to obtain three ewe lambs of pure british blood for Bolivar, so that we can develop that end of our breeding strategy. They are young, but in fine shape.
The rest of our flocks are also largely in fine shape, and we will be breeding more of our ewes than last season because of this. This should help us establish the numbers to meet the needs of the USDA's scrapie export standards.
On the wine front, things are making gradual progress. Having found that the micron scale filters clog too easily with merely siphoned wine, we have obtained a centrifuge for mechanical clarification. Test runs have been very encouraging, so that we should be able to clarify and bottle wine in a couple of reliable passes. We will of course have to have all our recipes certified by the TTB, but we have kept good laboratory notebooks throughout, and should be able to pass that hurdle without undue trouble.
The mead is light, very suitable for hot weather sipping, while the cyser we are making has more body and personality, and both are aging rather nicely. As soon as the authorities are satisfied, we are sure to find some glad buyers.
Some of last year's trees (which were largely seconds, not prime picks from the nursery) show signs of severe drought stress, and some will surely succumb. Since we lack the permit to irrigate, we have to take it as it comes and accept the losses where they occur.
The sheep and the birds alike have been going through a lot of water, but we need no permit to water them. This is good, because especially the sheep have been grazing the dry pastures and they need their water to keep up.
We are now past the autumnal equinox, and the days are rapidly growing shorter. This gives some relief, and the days are cooling down, but it also means that we largely missed the late season growth spurt for lack of water.
There is some good news, at least. All of our cultivated land is now enclosed, so that the sheep can engage in weed control all over. We will have to have them inspected soon, and divided for the mating season. Already the rams are showing signs of rutting temper.
We went to Oregon to obtain three ewe lambs of pure british blood for Bolivar, so that we can develop that end of our breeding strategy. They are young, but in fine shape.
The rest of our flocks are also largely in fine shape, and we will be breeding more of our ewes than last season because of this. This should help us establish the numbers to meet the needs of the USDA's scrapie export standards.
On the wine front, things are making gradual progress. Having found that the micron scale filters clog too easily with merely siphoned wine, we have obtained a centrifuge for mechanical clarification. Test runs have been very encouraging, so that we should be able to clarify and bottle wine in a couple of reliable passes. We will of course have to have all our recipes certified by the TTB, but we have kept good laboratory notebooks throughout, and should be able to pass that hurdle without undue trouble.
The mead is light, very suitable for hot weather sipping, while the cyser we are making has more body and personality, and both are aging rather nicely. As soon as the authorities are satisfied, we are sure to find some glad buyers.
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