Drought 2012

I know there was a lot of coverage on the news about the drought of 2012.  I can honestly tell you that, in my lifetime, I don't ever remember a summer with SO LITTLE RAIN.  And since my husband is a farmer, the drought is more than news, it affects our livelihood.

Here are some pictures (YES THANK YOU EBAY FOR MY NEW USB CORD) I took here at Down On The Farm the day before the hurricane brought some much needed rain to our neck of the woods.

No, we aren't grain farmers, we raise commercial beef cattle.  And what do cows eat?  Grass.  And what does it take to make grass grow?  Rain.  Lots and lots of rain.  Rain that we didn't get this summer.  Here is a picture of my back yard.  There is nothing green.

This is my front yard looking out at the front pasture.  Dead.  And you can barely see that pine tree at the top of the picture.  All of the needles are brown and falling off.  I fear that tree is dead too.

Another closeup of my back yard.  It is just dead.  I mowed my yard the second week of June, and didn't mow again until the end of September.  Even weeds wouldn't grow.

This picture is of our pond bank.  You see all those rocks?  Normally those rocks are covered with water.  Our pond is the lowest I have ever seen it in 15 years of living here.

Another shot of the pond.  The water level should be way up high on the left hand side of the picture.  Instead, it is LOW LOW LOW. 

This shows the pond dam.  Normally, that tree is just barely sticking up out of the water. 

Another shot of the front pasture.  Just a hint of green right around the pond, but nothing for our cattle to eat.

When the hurricane blew into town, we got 3" of rain in about two days.  Now you may think 3" of rain is a lot.  Well, now don't get me wrong, we are thankful for every single drop of rain we got that weekend!!  But the drought isn't over here in Central Missouri.  Yes, things are better.  My yard has greened up, and so have our pastures.  But, we still need another 9" of rain RIGHT NOW to get us back to "normal." 

We need a second cutting of hay to help feed our cattle.  We have sold off several head this summer.  We started feeding hay in August.  Much earlier than we would in a normal year.

Please continue to pray for everyone affected by the drought.  We still need more rain.

And thank you so much for sticking with me through the "drought" of pictures here at Down On The Farm.  I promise to try to post more frequently and give you some pictures to look at.  Blessings to each and every one of you!