What Are You Doing to Manage During the Drought?

[cutter99]

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?

[Jarpur]

Our primary concern is wildfire danger. We took out foundation plantings around our house, in order to reduce fire danger, and spent thousands lifting the canopies of all the trees anywhere near our house, barn, arena, driveway, out-buildings etc. (everywhere but our bottomland and did do a few there, too).

We’ve started to put gravel by the house, in place of vegetation; we’ve got two wooden gates in our front yard fence, and plan to replace those with metal ones. We’ve always concentrated our plantings on drought-tolerant species, and haven’t ever tried to keep a real lawn here (and hate to see our neighbors using drinking water – we’re all on wells – to keep theirs’ green).

We’re good about filling the dishwasher before running it, while keeping in mind that the DW uses much less water than hand-washing items, and washing full loads of laundry. Also, we only wash clothing when dirty, not necessarily every single time an item is worn. If it’s something mainly worn to the barn or for doing outside chores, for example, then it’s generally not laundered until it’s noticeably dirty. We have Energy Star appliances, including a front load washer, which use less water. Neither of us take long showers, either (probably remnants of both of our childhoods, growing up in large families, when the rule was “get in, get clean, get out” lol).

I clean the Nelson waterers daily (sometimes more often, as needed), but that wastes very little water. We downsized the water trough in the gravel sacrifice paddock, which means less is dumped out for cleaning (and we normally let the water level be drunk down before dumping, but if the trough needs cleaning, that might necessitate doing it before), and try to extend the time between cleanings by using an aquarium net frequently to remove leaves and such. But, in case of a well problem or power outage, a smaller trough means less water available in an emergency. We do have an extra water tank in the barn, but it would only provide a couple three days of horse drinking water.

We’re seriously thinking about putting in water capture of some type to contain the run-off from gutters, even if only rain barrels at downspouts. We were lucky that the first half of the summer was relatively wet, although the proverbial drop in a bucket in regards to making up for the extended severe drought, but September and October were incredibly dry. I’ve always kept a close eye on the pastures over the years, and restricted grazing as necessary. Our pastures are native grasses, and they’ve so far been able to bounce back if not over-grazed, although I don’t know if they will this time as the drought has continued for so long (years) at this point. When there has been rain, the dead plant material washes away, leaving bare soil.

[clanter]

@cutter99

Fingers crossed that we have enough hay to make it through until spring

In north Texas we have been through numerous droughts, hay is trucked in from where ever, we have bought hay from Washington State before. I know the hay we normally feed is not locally grown but local hay costs nearly the same as real nice hay brought in from out of state. There have been years where we contracted for a specific number of tons at a set price, taking that amount even if not needed.

For these droughts we always clear the fence lines and fifty or more feet into the wilderness just in case there is a grass fire. We replaced the barn siding with fire resistance sidings, and metal roofed all but the small barn

Combustibles are not stored in the horse barns, just keep a day or so of hay with them all remaining hay is stored separately in its own structure

[OzarksRider]

Missouri has been in and out of drought for going on 3 years now. We had good rains this summer and plenty of hay, but the 2 previous summers hay was very hard to find. During September and October we had almost no rain, then last weekend we got 10 inches in 2 days. This is exactly what climate scientists have been predicting for years–alternating weather extremes. And I have lost all hope that climate change will be addressed in any meaningful way any time in my life.

As for what I do–I stuff my barn with hay whenever I can get it, because I can’t count on finding any if I wait. And I’m not overly picky with quality either.

[StormyDay]

We finally got a good amount of rain today after over a month of dry. I loved the weather for riding…. But the pastures all look horrible. I rotate every week and usually having 4 weeks off per pasture means that the grass is 8-10 inches tall before they go back on it. Yesterday I opened a pasture that had been resting for a month and it looked exactly the same as the one they were coming off of. The grass just didn’t grow. I’ve been feeding round bales which is crazy for here; usually I don’t need a round bale until mid January.

Luckily our groundwater isn’t in drought at all. All the rivers, creeks, ponds, etc are full. So I’m not worried about using water, which is much nicer than in August when the creek beds went dry.

[phantomhorse]

I am also in the NE. We are currently getting the first measurable rainfall we have had in many, many weeks… rather crazy when 1/4" of rain is cause for celebration!!

I have been feeding hay all summer, which has not happened since I moved here (over 10 years ago). Our pastures turned to dust several weeks ago and I am worried they will be a total loss at this point.

While not a big gardener even in the best of times, I did not water anything all summer and went from hosing horses after rides to sponging from a bucket. I also stopped dumping my water tank to clean it until it was down to the barest minimum, figuring a bit of dirty water was less of a problem then a dry well.

I haven’t seen a winter forecast yet, but I suspect @cutter99 is near enough to me that our winter precipitation forecast won’t be promising…

[Mango20]

I’ve had to keep my horses off half the pasture for two months now, and the grass over there only looks somewhat better. It’s green, but no more than a couple of inches high.

[StormyDay]

@Mango20

I’ve had to keep my horses off half the pasture for two months now, and the grass over there only looks somewhat better. It’s green, but no more than a couple of inches high.

You’re doing better than mine then. The grass around my arena doesn’t have horses on it. It’s still brown. I’m afraid I’ve lost it all.

[snowblaze]

The seasonal outlook is depressing for my area: drought persists.

But practically all of the states have some levels of drought or dryness.

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

[Pico_Banana]

I’m in the NE but not overly affected by the drought. We definitely have had hardly any rain in the last 4+ weeks and I can tell that my riding ring is very dry, but the ground water does not seem to be affected. The grass in my paddocks is green but not really growing though, despite occasional watering. I use well water for all my farm watering needs.

All of my flowers are perennials and manage well with benign neglect. Heck, the rose bushes still have blooms, which is unheard of in November. The trees seem to be holding on to their leaves longer than usual. I’d say they’ve only lost about half of them so far and we’re usually done with leaves by Thanksgiving.

[cutter99]

@phantomhorse, I don’t think we are very far apart. We got a 1/4 inch yesterday too, and we’re in full out celebration over it.

We need a good week of slow steady rain at this point, if not more.

[StormyDay]

@cutter99

We need a good week of slow steady rain at this point, if not more.

eww, no. Can we just have nighttime rain? Then sun during the day?
I hate those weeks of constant rain

[SharonA1]

I would be absolutely thrilled with a week, or two weeks, of steady moderate rain. I live on a lake and it is several feet lower than in the past 25 years. I have gained about 15 feet of property, since the water has dropped back so far, but…

[cutter99]

@StormyDay

@cutter99

We need a good week of slow steady rain at this point, if not more.

eww, no. Can we just have nighttime rain? Then sun during the day?
I hate those weeks of constant rain

No, we are that desperate for water. I hate seeing my state literally burn!

[Xanthoria]

Well today we had our first rain since probably April or May, which is normal in CA. But we’ve had less than normal winter rains for years now so have been living in a real drought.

Some things that are smart and even mandatory in some areas:
Convert shower heads to low flow and only take 5 minute showers
Discover how much better your hair is if you wash it less
Convert toilets to low flush volume, and even “if it’s yellow, let it mellow”
Convert to low water laundry appliances
Stop using the bathtub (or reuse the water for landscaping or toilet flushing)
Turn off the water when brushing your teeth or shaving
Only run the dishwasher or washing machine when they’re full
Get rid of lawns
Only keep plants that enjoy zero summer water
Plant fire resistant plants and maintain plant-free defensible space around your home
Set up rainwater collection systems

[AMackechnie]

My wife and I rely on well water here in New York State and the lack of rain in the summer and snow in the winter in recent years is contributing to our well going dry two years in a row. We are hoping it doesn’t happen this year, but…

[phantomhorse]

@StormyDay

eww, no. Can we just have nighttime rain? Then sun during the day?
I hate those weeks of constant rain

We are so desperate that I would be overjoyed at 2 days of rain, forget weeks.

This is what my paddocks look like… and the little green is the weeds that revived slightly after last night’s shower. Even the trees are dry enough they don’t know if they should change color or just drop off dead:

[StormyDay]

@phantomhorse

@StormyDay

eww, no. Can we just have nighttime rain? Then sun during the day?
I hate those weeks of constant rain

We are so desperate that I would be overjoyed at 2 days of rain, forget weeks.

This is what my paddocks look like… and the little green is the weeds that revived slightly after last night’s shower. Even the trees are dry enough they don’t know if they should change color or just drop off dead:

Yeah, mine looks similar. I brought home another round bale today and the horses jumped for joy. If I had brought home a round bale this time last year it would have molded before anyone ate it.

But, I’d like to have my cake and eat it too. Nice daytime riding weather… rain in the evening. That’s the perfect weather.

[clanter]

feeding round bales be careful regarding the quality as it took us years to eliminate the weeds introduced from some of the round bales we fed during a drought

There have been droughts around here where the state allowed farmers to bale the highway right of ways, those bales did provide hay but also included everything found on the roads

[StormyDay]

@clanter

feeding round bales be careful regarding the quality as it took us years to eliminate the weeds introduced from some of the round bales we fed during a drought

There have been droughts around here where the state allowed farmers to bale the highway right of ways, those bales did provide hay but also included everything found on the roads

Well that’s gross.
I’m lucky that my local southern states is pretty darn picky about the hay.