I was scrolling through social media last night, and came to realize there were at least 6 wildfires within a 50 mile radius of us, as the drought has gotten so severe. We are safe, but I feel for those in this state who are experiencing this.
We have not had measurable rain here in more than 5 weeks. Before than we had gone over 6 weeks with no rain, then had a period of about 2 weeks with spotty showers.
I have experienced this down South previously, but never in the Northeast. November up here can typically be gloomy and rainy, and I can even remember times of significant snow, but we are only predicted to get a fraction of our normal snow fall this year. When we made the decision to move back up North, we were told that snow totals had drastically decreased in the 9 years we had lived in Tennessee, and boy howdy, people were not lying or exaggerating.
My horses are currently dry lotted with a round bale in front of them 24/7. I do have a hay loft filled with small square bales if someone needs to be stalled. Their water is provided out of a 100 gallon stock tank that I am refilling when it is almost empty. Other times I would dump 25 gallons if it looked dirty, but 25 gallons is starting to add up quickly.
We have a beef cattle herd that we culled hard a few weeks ago and reduced our numbers by almost half. They are basically dry lotted as well, and fed round bales, which isn’t ideal, but the pastures are to the point where they are turning to dust. They go through hundreds of gallons a day of water, and we try very hard to make sure they waste none.
We built a new 60’ X 40’ hay barn this year, with the goal to fill it, and could not find enough hay to do that. Fingers crossed that we have enough hay to make it through until spring.
I run the dishwasher when it is absolutely full. I am holding onto wash until I can do a full load of all like clothing. I made the decision after such a dry summer that I will no longer have plants that require watering, and am going to only do perennials and no more hanging baskets or planters with annuals.
Is the drought affecting you and what are you doing to handle it?