Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss The Drought

Well, the year started off good, then comes May, our wettest month, and nothing. This is the 3rd year we've had below normal rainfall and above normal temperatures. One of my ponds has dried up and the other is getting smaller every day. According to NOAA, expect more of the same through Halloween! Hope some of you folks are doing okay because we're really hurting in Oklahoma and Texas.

I'm just hoping my well holds out. When we bought the place the well was already in, the previous owner put it in and said it was spring fed and only 14 to 18 ft deep. Said you couldn't run it dry if you tried. So far, so good.We had about a quarter inch of rain about a week a go and nothing for at least a month before that.I pump from a creek on the back side of the property to help the pond, so tonight I'm going to rig up a fitting so she can water the horses without using our well, but last time i walked down to the creek it wasn't looking so hot either.I would hate to see what everything looks like at the end of October if it stays like this. Good luck Okie.

Be careful using the creek water for your horses Jason. If it looks real stagnant and scummy with algae it could have a blue green algae that is toxic to mammals.

We've had a few reports of dogs dying or suffering severe kidney damage from drinking water with a certain type of blue green algae in it here in Indiana. The high temps are supposed to be a factor with this algae's development.

Thanks Cecil! That never crossed my mind. She would kill me if those horses died because of me. She knows I'm not real fond of them anyways.:) Might need to save that option for an absolute last resort if things don't get better.

We're experiencing that dangerous algae in some of our lakes here in Oklahoma. The state is not allowing any swimming or skiing in those afflicted lakes. The good news is that we have a 50% chance of rain tomorrow and a 60% chance tomorrow night.

The Platte River, near Grand Island, NE, is completely dry.

That's very disturbing. Does anybody know if this weather pattern is going to stay for a while, or is it just an anomaly?

If I did, I'd be rich.

The Mississippi River is down to 15 foot deep in St. Louis.

RAH if you did, I'd help you be rich. It's just getting to regular here in TX to forecast anything. Cattle prices, crop production, fertilizer, it's all a gamble right now.

Actually not a lot of cows left in Texas. Last years drought caused a huge sell off.

Dave, the Emory sale barn had traffic stopped all along hwy 69 last year. It was a sale off like I had never seen before. Tough being a farmer/small rancher right now.

You should see the sand bar up on 270 it's 1/2 mile long, longest I've ever seen it..

Tell me about it! I'm plowing my chit under and gonna start growing cactus!

Maybe the really small hobby farmers are struggling.. But I've honestly never met a farmer hurting for cash, they'll be fine no matter what happens

Wow....

Bluegillkiller: No offense; but you obviously haven't met many farmers. Most have been hurting for a long time. The last two years have helped; but this one will hurt bad. My brother had a great year last year - a historic one. This year, he anticipates losing twice what he made last year. I'm aware of another farmer who anticipates losing around $800,000 this year and another who anticipates a loss of around $1,400,000. None of them would consider themselves hobby farmers and all depend upon it as their primary means of making a living.

You have got to be kidding me...

I was up in the arch Tuesday morning. I don't recall ever seeing the river that low. They said another 3 feet and it will break record from late 80s. The barges have to go one way. Like Hank Jr said. The mississippi river she's going dry, but country boy can survive!

NWS says we are in a drought pattern until at least 9/30. But then again many times you can go by the opposite of what they say. It's rained 3 1/2 inches since I read that report and some good storms are on the way in the AM and tomorrow!

How much does insurance cover and what percentage of farmers have it?

It covers up to twice the spring guarantee. Something like 80% of farmers have it.

The real problem arises when you were growing crops to feed your own livestock and then you're forced to buy feed on the open market at the current spot price.

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle-news...-163682466.html

Absolutely! I was just curious as I've been in conversations where no one really knew the answers.

I did hear that running irrigation 24/7 like they've had to here may be a Catch 22 when it comes time to pay the power bill.

I have heard it is very expensive to carry that insurance too.

Not all farmers have it, and there's different types too. Different policy for hail/wind damage vs. losing the crop due to drought or other things.

My friend only has crop insurance to cover salary and fixed costs on an average year. Not enough to cover all losses in a bad year, such as this one with the extra $$ spend to run irrigation, etc. I don't know exactly how it works, but I don't think it will cover a poor or partial crop, I believe it only covers 100% crop loss. Last year they got paid on almost 600 acres that they couldn't plant because it was flooded. If it dried out, they couldn't plant anything on it that would result in any $$ in their pocket, but they could plant a cover crop to keep from having the soil blow away, or to have to continually spray for weeds.