- Thread starter MTC
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Billy Shafer
Well-known Member
Not much you can do. In my part of Texas last year. We watched all the stock tanks and creeks dry up. Pastures and trees died along with the weeds. Hay was imported from every where.Had grass fires in four counties in one week. We are still cleaning up that mess.
This year we are starting to get rain. Five inches one week. Not much but it helps. Try dragging your lawn mower out to mow. I did that Friday afternoon and it rained all weekend.
This year we are starting to get rain. Five inches one week. Not much but it helps. Try dragging your lawn mower out to mow. I did that Friday afternoon and it rained all weekend.
fixerupper
Well-known Member
Like Unruh said, we have crop insurance. Those of us who have low or no debt won't be hurt much, though it is a little demoting to know there won't be any icing on the cake this fall.
The farmers with big machinery debt who are paying the huge rents and planning on just a few dollars per acre profit have good reason to worry because crop insurance won't make their payments. Jim
The farmers with big machinery debt who are paying the huge rents and planning on just a few dollars per acre profit have good reason to worry because crop insurance won't make their payments. Jim
I went through that stress back in 88. I vowed I would never go through that again and have carried crop insurance since. This year will be worst than 88 on corn. To soon to tell on beans yet.
Never have collected on it since 88 but this year will make up for the expense of the insurance over the years.
I know what my minimum income will be. I can survive on that. A average crop would be better than the insurance but I am covered above a loss.
I lay out way to much money to grow a crop these days to go without the insurance.
Gary
Never have collected on it since 88 but this year will make up for the expense of the insurance over the years.
I know what my minimum income will be. I can survive on that. A average crop would be better than the insurance but I am covered above a loss.
I lay out way to much money to grow a crop these days to go without the insurance.
Gary
Tom in TN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Southern Middle Tennessee
I'm just a small farmer with a little cow/calf operation so I'll make it no matter what, but the row croppers in Middle Tennessee are devastated.
When General Motors decided to build Saturn automobiles in Spring Hill, Tennessee back in the mid-90's, they bought up a couple of thousand acres of land. They built their facilities and then began farming the rest of the land.
I drove past a couple of their corn fields yesterday and they are completely ruined. The corn stalks are dead from top to bottom - just dead, brown stalks. No ears, no life left in them.
I don't suppose that GM has crop insurance outside of their company, but someone is going to lose big money this year.
Tom in TN
When General Motors decided to build Saturn automobiles in Spring Hill, Tennessee back in the mid-90's, they bought up a couple of thousand acres of land. They built their facilities and then began farming the rest of the land.
I drove past a couple of their corn fields yesterday and they are completely ruined. The corn stalks are dead from top to bottom - just dead, brown stalks. No ears, no life left in them.
I don't suppose that GM has crop insurance outside of their company, but someone is going to lose big money this year.
Tom in TN
but,guys ,dont you know crop insurance is one of those dreaded gov handouts? LOL.Seriously though,its tough to see things burn up,especialy since you worked so hard.But its a fact of life in this buisness,every year its a gamble.Actually I think youve got better chances in vegas.At least there you have the option of folding.Farming your pretty much all in every hand. How i deal with the stress,is by doing all i can this year to prepare for next. Maybe look for a more drought resistant crop or more drought resistant strain of your chosen crop.research ways to hold what little moisture you do get in the subsoil. look for better ways to plant etc. not much you can do about the weather,youve got to live with it, but you can look on the bright side,its not too wet,or cold.Your not fighting hail,wind storms, lightning,or a dozen other things youll have to stress about next year! Sort of a glass half full type thing. If it helps any,its my experience that these droughts come around about every 25, at most 30, years.And last around five years normaly. By my calculations here,we'll have one more dry year. then we'll see,thats the make or break time.I do think dryland farmers have a little advantage in a drought because thats kind of what they do,but the same thing applies to other folks who are more accustomed to good rains in the wet years.
It's not entirely a government hand out. My insurance agent says there are fourteen companies writing crop insurance this year. They expect, after paying claims, there may be only ten next year. What's done is done in the corn, the soybeans are fareing better. A good rain would still help them. Yes, I'd rather get my money from the market than from insurance. I haven't collected much insurance for years, but this is one of the years why I've paid it for years. Insurance is one of those things that is always or never.
Federal crop insurance, taxpayer subsidized at about $2.5 billion and a crop adjuster near me told me that's like 60% of the insurance premium. I have no problem with that but for cattlemen there's little options. I had NAP and it paid some from 1997-2001. Then one of the worst drought years we had I got $37.39. That's when I stopped purchasing NAP. In my area we had 10 years out of 12 with severe drought. We were on our own after 2001.
Nancy Howell
Well-known Member
We understand. With the severe drought last year, it was tough to watch things wither and die.
Not much you can do, but that's no consolation. Just plain gut wrenching to watch what you worked to plant and grow wither and die.
Not much you can do, but that's no consolation. Just plain gut wrenching to watch what you worked to plant and grow wither and die.
I've been going to post for a while now and ask non farmers what it's like not to have to be concerned with the weather every day,but I haven't even had the energy to do that.
I haven't layed awake yet,except the nights when storms have blown through right close by but missed me completely.
I really don't have an answer,except that I've been at this for 45 years and I've always survived no matter how wet or dry it was. Knowing that doesn't make it any easier.
The wife went with me to the stockyard yesterday and were talking about taking a vacation. I told her I just couldn't even get up for that in this heat and the fact that the pastures are so bad here at home. We decided maybe we'd just wait til fall and take off for four or five days of color touring in Kentucky and Tennessee after all this is over.
What REALLY got me was seeing just how good things look just a few miles east of here yesterday. The storms have been following the same track for 2 weeks now. Things look just flat out normal over there. That just rubs salt in the wound.
All I can do is try to dwell on experience telling me that the pattern will change sooner or later and it'll rain again.
I haven't layed awake yet,except the nights when storms have blown through right close by but missed me completely.
I really don't have an answer,except that I've been at this for 45 years and I've always survived no matter how wet or dry it was. Knowing that doesn't make it any easier.
The wife went with me to the stockyard yesterday and were talking about taking a vacation. I told her I just couldn't even get up for that in this heat and the fact that the pastures are so bad here at home. We decided maybe we'd just wait til fall and take off for four or five days of color touring in Kentucky and Tennessee after all this is over.
What REALLY got me was seeing just how good things look just a few miles east of here yesterday. The storms have been following the same track for 2 weeks now. Things look just flat out normal over there. That just rubs salt in the wound.
All I can do is try to dwell on experience telling me that the pattern will change sooner or later and it'll rain again.
steve in wi
Member
Insurance can't replace the crop that isn't there,to feed your animals.The guys that don't have animals will be better off.Insurance doesn't cover alafafa.Their always a reason for what happens to us.god bless good luck with the crops.
fixerupper
Well-known Member
David, you hit it on the nose. We've had several years of good crops along with good prices so we've ramped up our spending on non-essentials accordingly. It's easy to be more lavish but it's not easy to go backwards even though we aren't anywhere near poverty. Jim
I think I need to ask this.
I saw a water truck 2 weeks ago that fills swimming pools. (I have no clue as to the cost)
Likely got 2000 gallons on these trucks. What would it cost to have these trucks pull up and dump the water into a set of irrigation pipes?
Or a dry pond then use a water pump to irrigate. For a small farm this would work, likely 10 acres or less. Just asking.
I have seen the large sprayers on sod farms running a spray 80 to 100 feet long. (most likely very costly)
I saw a water truck 2 weeks ago that fills swimming pools. (I have no clue as to the cost)
Likely got 2000 gallons on these trucks. What would it cost to have these trucks pull up and dump the water into a set of irrigation pipes?
Or a dry pond then use a water pump to irrigate. For a small farm this would work, likely 10 acres or less. Just asking.
I have seen the large sprayers on sod farms running a spray 80 to 100 feet long. (most likely very costly)
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
If anything it is a government hand out to the insurance companies. If they were to charge 60% more farmers wouldn't buy it. We've had it for the last 10 or 11 years and have gotta nearly nothing out of it. All those years of premium even at the lower prices was profit for the insurance companies.
My dad went through the same thing in 1955 when we lived in South Dakota. No rain and hot winds pretty much destroyed our corn crop so I understand what you're going through.
However, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. I'm a commercial general contractor and in 2009 business basically ended. No financing for "spec" buildings and no one in the mood to build anything - to much uncertainty - much of it created by the government. Business is just starting to come back a little but I doubt we'll ever see the good years we used to have. There's no insurance available for "lack of business". And, it isn't only farmers that watch the weather - contractors do too.
However, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. I'm a commercial general contractor and in 2009 business basically ended. No financing for "spec" buildings and no one in the mood to build anything - to much uncertainty - much of it created by the government. Business is just starting to come back a little but I doubt we'll ever see the good years we used to have. There's no insurance available for "lack of business". And, it isn't only farmers that watch the weather - contractors do too.
Traditional Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Virginia
How long you been farming? Drought,too much rain,hail etc etc I've seen most everything,you just got to learn to accept it and plan for diaster because its coming sooner or later.
larry from md.
Member
But we ARE getting the wind and lighting storms just no water.
I have 20 acres of nursery trees. To cover one inch of water, somewhere around 27,000 gallons/acre x 20 acres. Roughly 500,000 gallons a week.
Both of my ponds are down 2 1/2 feet, not sure how much more I can pull out of them. Also have a creek that is bone dry. We havent had rain here since May 4th.
By the way, this is mid-Michigan, not a southern state where heat and no rain is the normal.
Rick
Both of my ponds are down 2 1/2 feet, not sure how much more I can pull out of them. Also have a creek that is bone dry. We havent had rain here since May 4th.
By the way, this is mid-Michigan, not a southern state where heat and no rain is the normal.
Rick
You'll lose, never get there.....
1 acre-foot = 43,560 cubic feet = 325,900 gallons
To water a crop you typically need an inch of water per week. That would be an acre-inch, or 1/12 of the above. (A crop might live ok on less water; but a bunch of it evaporates, etc. so you need to apply about an inch a week to keep up....)
So, to water an acre of land, you need 27,000 gallons a week.
For your 10 acres, you'd need to truck in 270,000 gallons.
Or 135 loads of water every week.
Hope it rains a little, to give you a week or 2 off!
And I don't want to know the fuel bill....
A 3/4 inch garden hose can run close to 20 gallons a minute for argument sake - depends on the pressure & I'm rounding up.... So running 24 hours a day, you can water about an acre a day with a garden hose.
/Certainly, rain and water already in the soil profile will decrease watering needs a lot, and getting 1/4 that amount of water on real dry sod will keep it living, but if you want to _produce_ a crop, it takes water.
Irrigation uses a tremendous amount of water, you gotta pump it local out of a creek/pond or a well, hauling it in a truck or container is for very, very small garden plots.
1 acre-foot = 43,560 cubic feet = 325,900 gallons
To water a crop you typically need an inch of water per week. That would be an acre-inch, or 1/12 of the above. (A crop might live ok on less water; but a bunch of it evaporates, etc. so you need to apply about an inch a week to keep up....)
So, to water an acre of land, you need 27,000 gallons a week.
For your 10 acres, you'd need to truck in 270,000 gallons.
Or 135 loads of water every week.
Hope it rains a little, to give you a week or 2 off!
And I don't want to know the fuel bill....A 3/4 inch garden hose can run close to 20 gallons a minute for argument sake - depends on the pressure & I'm rounding up.... So running 24 hours a day, you can water about an acre a day with a garden hose.
/Certainly, rain and water already in the soil profile will decrease watering needs a lot, and getting 1/4 that amount of water on real dry sod will keep it living, but if you want to _produce_ a crop, it takes water.
Irrigation uses a tremendous amount of water, you gotta pump it local out of a creek/pond or a well, hauling it in a truck or container is for very, very small garden plots.
Bob Bancroft
Well-known Member
- Location
- Aurora NY
The walking together is great. Doing it next to the dying crops isn't. It's not like it's a loved one who needs companionship as they die.
Last year we didn't get rain through four weeks of a record hot July. I just went and did other things as much as possible. We ended up with about 140 bu. corn. Too soon to know about this year. Wife says we're still better off than last year. I hope she's right.
Last year we didn't get rain through four weeks of a record hot July. I just went and did other things as much as possible. We ended up with about 140 bu. corn. Too soon to know about this year. Wife says we're still better off than last year. I hope she's right.
steve in wi
Member
Not sure that i will,but i,am going to ask around about that.thanks scott
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Oh I agree with you 100%. We still buy it because you just never know when you might need it.
I would be coming up with a new plan. If I expected a major income reduction I would be figuring out where I could cut business and living expenses plus what I could do to make up some of the shortfall. The sooner action is taken the more effective it is plus it gives you something constructive to do, positive action and results do wonders for a persons frame of mind.
I think we're going to head down in to Ohio on Friday,try to get to VanWert that night. Thought we'd gat a room at the motel where we've stayed twice before,with the hot tub and pool. We found a little resturant on Main Street that has fried chicken that would make the Colonel drool. Figured on Saturday morning,we'd head on down to the Dark County Steam Threshers grounds for the big Flea Market there,then turn around and head home.
The original plan this year was to go to Gadsden Alabama,start down there and get up to Renfro Valley Ky by Saturday night for the Barn Dance. All I can think about though is how sick I got in the heat last year. That's the kind of thing that scars you for a while.
Are you going? What part are you taking in this year?
The original plan this year was to go to Gadsden Alabama,start down there and get up to Renfro Valley Ky by Saturday night for the Barn Dance. All I can think about though is how sick I got in the heat last year. That's the kind of thing that scars you for a while.
Are you going? What part are you taking in this year?
Ken Macfarlane
Well-known Member
No rain since May 4th! Wow. We are having a more normal summer here, the last 10 years its been wet, really wet, like misting or rain 75 out of 90 days. We got two nice 1 week long hot and dry spells this year and everyone starts complaining about how dry it is.
Hoss In ME
Member
Why not put a bunch of huge pumps along the Mississip and get water to you guys.We have a few palm trees starting round here. Hoss
I won't get home from work until August 11th this year so will miss out -- We started in Gadsden 3 years ago and the Alabama and east Tennessee stretches were the best I have been to yet, we ran the whole 4 days and only made it to Crossville Tennessee because there was so many good stops along the way. The heat is probably going to be miserable this year.
Paul from MI
Well-known Member
That wouldn't be the place on the North side of the main drag, old US 30, that's been there since the 1920's. Havin' a senior moment here, eaten in there many times, foods always good, but can't remember the name. I used to drive thru Van Wert on my way from seeing my girlfriend, now wife in Ft. Wayne. Stop and take a nap in a truck stop between Van Wert and Delphos, then go on home to Shelby, OH. That was 50 years ago.
just another old geezer
Member
you have to make your peace whit the fact that the crop might not turn out when you put the seed into the ground. plant and live with what the Almighty gives you.
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