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Well for the most part the hay season is almost over. Most have already cut their last cutting of hay and finished any fertilize. A few days prior to 10/13/06 most of East Texas had recorded between 2” & 3” of rainfall for the previous week or so. This would have been great about the first part of September to help the last cutting of hay be better but we are not in control. As of today my rain gauge shows near 3.3” since 10/14/06 and its still raining hard outside with a forecast to rain all day. We may see near 5 to 6” of rainfall out of this disturbance and hopefully no severe weather. This will bring our to date annual rainfall backup close to normal, however its to late for any help to our hay season. Looks like it will work out just about like last year. We were running behind on rainfall then we seen hurricane Rita which dropped us approx. 5.3” of rainfall on September 24th bringing us back up close to normal for the 05 year. In summary, both the 2005 & 2006 years have both been drought years and especially April through September. This is what has really hurt our hay season both years.
GENERAL NOTE: Please watch or look at the type and quality of hay you are getting if you happen to be buying from someone. Many of the bales being baled are not fertilized and of very low quality yet they are being sold for expensive prices. You can ask about what you are buying and may want to consider taking a few samples to the SFA testing lab or a testing lab near your location to see exactly the quality you are buying. Also watch the size of bales vs. the price for different sizes. Several bales may weigh only 840 lbs or so when the same price bale may weigh in at 1200 lbs and a really large bale may weigh in at 1500 lbs plus. So don’t just compare price, , compare size, weight and grass quality to determine what you buy.
Please see our link to the left “Army Worms” this will give you a little more information on what to look for. These little critters can really do some harm to your grass fields. They usually only get in the good and fertilized fields it seems and when they are tender. Then when the grass gets near maturity and a bit tougher they tend to leave it alone. Please email us if you want any more information on these army worms if you don’t know enough already.
Well, looks like we are getting some relief from this year’s drought now. As if the drought in 2005 wasn’t enough, we have been having another drought in 2006. If the weather guru’s are correct we have 30% to 80% chance of rain for the next 10 days. This will be some much appreciated rainfall for all our farmers here in East Texas. Many ponds are low, creeks are mostly dried up and fields for grazing are very short. All these things make it hard on the farmer again this year. Many are having to feed some hay due to the drought and some are selling a few animals. Hopefully this rain fall with give many around East Texas some much needed relief. Hopefully this rainfall will fill our ponds and creeks and make our pastures green up for some summer grazing.
So far I haven’t heard of any army worms yet… hope you haven’t had any problems with them. Please anyone who reads this and wants to pass along any useful information to others in our area please email or call me using the information on the “Contact Us” Link which is located to the left side of the pages...
If we can help you with any of your fertilize needs, liquid feed needs, grass planting, pasture leveling, hay cut and bale and many other things then please give us a call so we can discuss anything we can help you with.
Please keep an eye on our photo gallery if you are interested in looking at the pictures and they are sorted out into other links down the left side of the page for your ease of finding what you are looking for. If you have any photos that you think others would like to see then please send them to me and we will review them and possibly post them on this site.
Please see our questions and answers link for some other useful reading...
For all our customers, “Thank you for your business and support”
As of June 22, 2006 KTRE our local forecast noted that we had only 16.26” of rainfall to date for 2006 and the average/normal is 22.71” so that is 6.45” below normal rainfall to date for the 2006 year. As you well know this is hurting the hay production for our area. You can put out fertilize and get sunshine but without the rainfall the grass just will not grow. Many farmers are going to be short for their needed hay to make it through the winter. Alternate feed supplements such as liquid feed will be needed to supplement what hay the cattle guys do have. Let’s hope for some more rain!!!
RAINFALL: We have had some much needed rainfall for the month of January. Two of the rain events were significant then a couple small rainfalls. As of today we have received a total for the month of January 2006 of 5.01” Most of this was in the last ½ of the month but still needed. Many Winter pastures will benefit from this.
DROUGHT has cost many of our local farmers to reduce herds some and to use some of the more expensive feeds due to no winter pastures to speak of and not enough hay production last year. We are all optimistic that 2006 will not be a drought year and we will all be able to produce more hay. If you get time please look at the link on our technical data page and see the link to Hay Storage, this has some useful information that shows us the importance of storing hay in barns rather than outside.
GRASS PLANTING: Please see some information about grass planting on the Question and Answers link of our web page and see some pictures on our planting grass link.
This is the last day of 2005 and Sunday will be our first day of 2006. Hopefully this New Year will not be as dry as last year was. KTRE.COM reports say that the total annual 2005 rainfall was 10.60” below normal. Our normal rainfall is 42.30” and we had 31.70” then if we were to take out the Hurricane Rita rainfall (which we much needed) we would have been 15.90” below rainfall according to KTRE.COM. As you all know this can be almost fatal to farming crops and cattle farmers etc…. A good weather year is hard enough but a flood year for 2004 and a drought year for 2005 does take us from one extreme to another. Lord willing we will have a prosperous year in 2006. Please take a few minutes and go through our web site to see what all we do and if you have any comments or questions please contact us. Please also take a look at the questions and answers link to see some useful information that may give you some ideas for your 2006 farming season. If we can be of any help please let us know.
Please note that anyone can look up this data at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/shv/climate.htm while the following summary lists the totals for 2005 by month for your review:
| January | We had a total of 4.06” of rainfall which is -0.39” below normal |
| February | We had a total of 5.57” of rainfall which is 2.40” above normal |
| March | We had a total of 3.52” of rainfall which is -0.01” below normal |
| April | We had a total of 1.10” of rainfall which is -2.03” below normal |
| May | We had a total of 1.80” of rainfall which is -3.49” below normal |
| June | We had a total of 0.85” of rainfall which is -3.33” below normal |
| July | We had a total of 2.19” of rainfall which is -0.41” below normal |
| August | We had a total of 2.63” of rainfall which is -0.45” below normal |
| September |
We had a total of 5.51” of rainfall which is 1.43” above normal 4.08
(Hurricane Rita had 5.30” on 09/24/05 |
| October | We had a total of 1.71” of rainfall which is -2.42” below normal |
| November | We had a total of 1.09” of rainfall which is -2.25” below normal |
| December | We had a total of 1.67” of rainfall which is -2.47 below normal |
Summary: as of today we have had a total of 31.70” as reported by the NOAA weather reports. Our normal for a year is 45.12” this leaves us at -13.42” below normal according to the NOAA weather reports. This minus the amount dropped by Hurricane Rita would have left us with rainfall to date of 26.40”. Therefore it appears we are approx. 13.42” below rainfall using the 31.70” of rainfall we did get to date. If it hadn’t been for Hurricane Rita we would be some 18.72” below normal rainfall amounts.
Please also notice that all the normal farming months beginning in March through today 12/31/05, have negative rainfall amounts from normal rainfall amounts with the exception of September when most planting, fertilizing etc… has been completed. This accounts for our very poor 2005 farming season yields. Please see the rest of our notes & news within this web site ( www.superiorfarming.com )
Well today we finally got some much needed rainfall. So far I have gotten about 1” and its still raining. Temperatures are still warm for mid December but as you know what little hard winter we see here now days is mostly January and February. Our Rye Grass sure needed the rainfall and hopefully this rain will help your winter pastures.
Merry Christmas to you all. We here at Superior Farming hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. If you haven’t gotten your shopping done yet don’t wait much longer or you will have to battle the crowds in the stores. They are already getting large crowds in the stores and it will get worse.
We are sending out a flyer to all our customers for the past 2 years and if you would like to be included in this mailing please just email us or call us at one of the numbers located on the “Contact Us” link to the left of the home page. We will be glad to mail you one. Also we will have a link on the home page by the weekend so you can read or print the flyer if you want to.
We are now making schedules for ground breaking, grass planting, and trying to build our customer list for Hay cutting and baling. If we can help you with any of these needs please let me know and we will be glad to visit with you and schedule all your farming needs.
Well, as everyone is finding out, if you don’t have enough hay to make it through the winter and until spring then you may have a hard time finding enough hay. We have a few sources for round and square so if you need some please give us a call. As you can see below on the 11/23/05 rainfall report things have been really dry here in East Texas and the Hay yields have been an estimated 60% to 65% below normal for a good year of production. We hope you have enough or can find enough to make the winter. Some farmers are planting a winter cover crop to help feed their cattle into January & February so if you have to do this then need to get it done pretty quickly so the grasses can get some growth before you need to graze these fields.
Liquid feed is always a good source for extra nutrients that most cattle don’t get enough of and especially during the winter months these animals need the required supplements to survive and stay healthy. If we can help you with any of this please let us know. We do deliver and set up syrup tanks if needed.
Please note that if you want to or plan to plant any Bermuda grass next spring then please read the section on Grass Planting as listed below under the date 09/17/05. Also you can give us a call and we will be glad to meet with you and review all options of grass planting. You can also see some more information about this issue in the Questions and Answers link located to the left of the home page in the links section.
Please note that anyone can look up this data at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/shv/climate.htm while the following summary lists the totals for 2005 by month for your review:
| January | We had a total of 4.06” of rainfall which is -0.39” below normal |
| February | We had a total of 5.57” of rainfall which is 2.40” above normal |
| March | We had a total of 3.52” of rainfall which is -0.01” below normal |
| April | We had a total of 1.10” of rainfall which is -2.03” below normal |
| May | We had a total of 1.80” of rainfall which is -3.49” below normal |
| June | We had a total of 0.85” of rainfall which is -3.33” below normal |
| July | We had a total of 2.19” of rainfall which is -0.41” below normal |
| August | We had a total of 2.63” of rainfall which is -0.45” below normal |
| September | We had a total of 5.51” of rainfall which is
1.43” above normal 4.08 (Hurricane Rita had 5.30” on 09/24/05) |
| October | We had a total of 1.71” of rainfall which is -2.42” below normal |
| November | We had a total of 0.30” of rainfall which is -3.04” below normal |
Summary: as of today we have had a total of 29.24” as reported by the NOAA weather reports. This minus the amount dropped by Hurricane Rita would have left us with rainfall to date of 23.94”. Therefore it appears we are approx. 11.73” below rainfall using the 29.24” of rainfall we did get to date. If it hadn’t been for Hurricane Rita we would be some 17.03” below normal rainfall amounts.
Please also notice that all the normal farming months beginning in March through today (11/23/05) have negative rainfall amounts from normal rainfall amounts with the exception of September when most planting, fertilizing etc… have been completed. This accounts for our very pour 2005 farming season yields. Please see the rest of our notes and news within this web site ( www.superiorfarming.com )
Drought: As we are sure most of you know it’s been a terrible year for farming due to the lack of rainfall. For the most part East Texas has been below average on rainfall since late spring and now that the farming and hay season is winding down you should be planning your seasons harvest ending. If you plan to cut and bale any more hay crop please keep an eye on the temperatures and any possibility of showers so that you can get your harvest up without getting wet. You should keep in mind that your last hay cutting if cut late in September or early October will be slow to cure so please allow plenty of cure time when planning when to cut your hay. Watch the forecast. Also plan to tetter your cutting of hay and especially if its very thick at all. This will help you get a more even cure on your hay and should help you be able to get your hay up maybe a day or two earlier.
Army Worms: The grass eating monsters haven’t been as bad this year as they were last year. However they have been around some. Especially if you have some good clean and fertilized Bermuda grass. Many of our customers have had a couple bouts with them this 2005 season but for the most part they have been somewhat manageable. If you have any in a good grass crop and want to get rid of them be sure to use the “Seven dust”. I really like the “XLR liquid Seven” it does a job on the army worms and helps with a few other things at the same time.
Soil Test: We recommend that you get your soil test done very soon and after your last cutting of hay/grass then you should get your area fertilized back a couple weeks or more before the first frost. This will get your roots stronger going into the winter and let your grass get up about 6 to 9 inches before winter. This will help protect your roots if we do happen to get a bad winter. If you need any help with this please let us know and we can help you.
Grass Planting: If you plan to plant a quality Bermuda grass such as Jiggs next spring then we recommend you give us a call and we can come out to review options with you. We may recommend that if you do not plan to graze the area to be planted this late fall or winter, then let us proceed with the breaking ground and deep plowing operations. If we can get it broke up good and deep plowed before a wet and cold winter then the moisture will go down and the moisture will be deeper for strong roots when planted next spring and this will allow us to get back in earlier to plant next spring or early summer. The past two springs have been wet making it hard to get into the fields early to plant with big equipment. If we get the plowing done then we can just disc and plant next spring. Please give us a call if we can help you with any planting or answer any questions about the pro’s and con’s of planting a high quality Bermuda grass.
Liquid Cattle Feed: It’s time to get your feeders filled up our get some set out for your cattle. This drought situation has really hurt and stressed the grasses and most cattle herds have eaten most of the available grasses and need the nutrients they are missing and will continue to need these through winter and even longer if you don’t have strong quality grass fields next summer. If we can help you with your liquid cattle feeds please give us a call.