Category Archives: Summer

Photo Friday: Green grass and happy cows


I’m just a little proud of how this photo turned out…

It’s taken all summer, but we finally have some mud in the pasture. The grass is bright green, and the cows are happy. It doesn’t take long to remember the drought that encompasses so much of the country though.

I’m in Arkansas today and seeing first-hand the worst of the drought in the cattle pasture. In case a few of you are longing to see the color so far gone, I thought I’d share with you today from Middle Tennessee.

Can you identify the tall, green grass in the photos?

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Keep in mind, the rain will come in due time. It’s just a matter of sticking it out and making the best management decisions possible until that time comes.

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Effects of 2012 drought on corn after the rain


Can you believe we’re already on the second week of August? Classes for kids here in Tennessee have already begun and my University classes start in a few short weeks. But for now, I’m actually headed home to Arkansas for a few days. I’ll get a hands-on look at some of the worst drought seen in my parents’ lifetimes.

As we move in to late summer, early fall, this is normally a drier part of the year with some of the highest average daily temperatures. This year’s drought has only complicated things, and we’re really not sure what normal is anymore.

Drought Monitor updates for August 9

The drought continues to worsen in my home-state of Arkansas. Exceptional drought now covers over 53% of the state; Extreme drought covering nearly 81%.

Drought conditions here in Tennessee have greatly improved with only a third of the state covered in Moderate or worse drought, 12.45% of that is Extreme or Exceptional drought.

View more of my stories about the 2012 drought on this blog (Link)

Tennessee receives rain, but drought effects on corn persist

Here in Tennessee, we’ve been blessed with 10 or more inches of rain in the last month across much of the state. That has moved many of us out of the most severe drought, but worse conditions continue to hang on in the Mississippi River Delta.

Even though we seem to be past the worst part of the drought in Middle Tennessee, the impact still remains. This is especially visible in much of the corn crop. I visited Lincoln and Franklin County, along the Alabama state line, this past weekend, only to discover brown corn fields. Many farmers have mowed down corn crops, baling the roughage for livestock hay.

The fields that will be used for corn silage will be lower quality and even lower yields. This will force many beef and dairy farmers to supplement with other high-quality feeds, increasing their cost of production. This will especially be evident in dairy production, with a possible decrease in milk quality/quantity and cost. This may remain until the next crops are harvested.

Here is a photo of what corn looks like in Southern Tennessee. On the left is an ear of corn from an irrigated field. This farmer was lucky that the corn pollenated in the extreme heat. Even in some irrigated fields there are very few kernels on the ear.

The ear of corn on the right is from a dry land field (non-irrigated). There is great variation within fields, so it’s very difficult to predict what yields may be. One thing for certain, they will be well below average for more fields.

One blessings the late rains brought to fields in Tennessee, was the ability for the kernels to fill out. Before it rained, the corn was drying out, meaning it would need to be harvest earlier. But the moisture has allowed farmers to leave the corn in the field and hopefully improve quality to some extent.

Here’s a few close looks at the corn fields here in Middle Tennessee.

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How are the field crops looking in your area during this drought?

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Arkansas Drought forcing ranchers to sell off cattle


As the drought conditions in Arkansas continue to worsen, farmers and ranchers watch their fields turn brown and water sources shrink. A few weeks ago, I shared a few photos from my family’s fields on CNN.

Despite more numerous spotty showers, this week’s drought monitor update shows the drought only intensifying in Arkansas and across the country. The D4 – Exceptional Drought is the highest category on the scale.

Reporter Karen Brown (@KarenBrownCBS) from CBS News made a visit to my family’s cattle auction this week to learn more.


Farmer Bill Pruitt
Image from Twitter @karenbrownCBS

White County rancher and family friend, Bill Pruitt, shared a few thoughts with Brown, showed his bare, brown pastures, and explained how his cattle herd has been cut in half as he has already started feeding winter’s supply of hay.

Our cattle auction has been selling 2- and 3-times the number of cattle compared to what should be average for this time of year (Story on DTN). Many farmers are being forced to sell-off their cows because the grass is gone, hay crops are little to none, feeding costs are expensive to carry cows through the winter.

In many cases, the best move the farmers can make is to cull deep – selling the older, less productive cows, retaining the youngest, best cows and managing the feed cost the best way possible. However, several farmers are choosing to sell-off entire herds.

CBS News reporter interviewing my dad

My dad explained that compared to last year’s numbers, more than double the number of mature cows are going through the auction, and the calves being sold are younger and lighter-weight. Only time will tell if these farmers will buy cattle back once the rains return.

Fortunately, the markets have been held up to a certain extent by out-of-state buyers. Our auction broadcasts the sale live online and have had many farmers place orders for loads of cattle to be sent to other states where there is more feed available. Replacement cow markets have stayed very strong. Here is the market report from our auction barn for this week.

The state chooses not to report numbers from our cattle auction (which puzzles me for the number of cattle going through our barn, that’s a lot of cattle sales ($) not being included in the reports), but here are numbers from other sales around the state. Be sure to note the difference in head counts from sales a year ago.

Had to pick the Longhorn’s for the background!

How are the drought conditions affecting things in your area?

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CNN covers impact of drought through farmers’ voices


 

Inside CNN

Inside CNN (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Agriculture has had it rough in the eyes of the media during the past few years. With groups like PeTA and HSUS drumming up emotional topics and images with poultry and pork farming, it has been tough for farmers to get a positive voice in the conversation.

Earlier this year, ABC News really hashed the ‘pink slime’ topic to the point where hundreds of individuals lost their jobs and a safe beef product is now seen as hazardous in much of the public’s eye. Main stream media has been looking for that sensational, emotional topic, and food is the one subject that impacts every person who eats. There are a few good stories spotted around, but they’re hard to stick in the public’s mind.

We have to give props to CNN for featuring the voice of multiple farmers from across the country in recent weeks. The current drought situation is one of the worst in this country’s history, and with so few Americans depending directly on the soil for a living, it’s important that farmers are out there to remind customers of how it impacts our food supply.

Indiana Farmer, Brian Scott

Generations of Indiana farmers from the Scott Family

Last week, CNN visited Indiana farmer Brian Scott (@thefarmerslife, Facebook), whose corn crop has been whittled down in the dry weather. Brian and his dad had a few moments on Live TV and were able to share a few thoughts on how the extreme drought conditions are affecting neighboring farmers. View the live segment video here and a later segment here. Brian also wrote on his blog about the events of hosting USDA officials and tv crews on the same day.

Missouri Farmer, Chris Chinn

Missouri farmer Chris Chinn (@chrischinn, Blog) had an opinion piece on CNN earlier this week explaining how the drought has affected her family.

(CNN) - The drought of 2012 will be one that farmers and ranchers remember for years to come. My husband, Kevin, and I are fifth-generation farmers. This is the first drought we have experienced since we were married and started farming together in 1995.

Our farm, like most other U.S. farms, is really suffering right now and in desperate need of rain. The media have pegged it right: it definitely is the worst drought of our generation.

Kevin and I own and raise hogs, cattle, corn, soybeans and alfalfa hay on our farm. Typically, we don’t have a lot of crops to farm, but this year we decided to rent an extra 200 acres for that purpose, doubling our row-crop acreage. We were able to purchase crop insurance for most of our crops, but unfortunately that alone will not help make our farm or equipment payments to the bank since most of our crops are ruined.

Our crop failure isn’t what keeps me awake at night these days; it’s worrying about our animals. No crops means no feed for livestock. We can’t stop feeding cattle and hogs. We own 60 head of cattle, and our family has 1,500 sows on our farm. Bountiful crops are needed for an adequate feed supply, but so too are healthy pastures for cattle grazing. Both need rain.

Read the rest of Chris’ piece here.

My Voice on CNN’s food page, Eatocracy

Over the past few months, I have also been blessed to have made contact with the editor of CNN’s food page – Eatocracy. Kat has welcomed me for three opinion pieces, encouraging customers to connect with farmers who producer their food, and my most recent piece last week shared insight to how the drought affects my family’s cattle farm in Arkansas. View all of my pieces here.

I encourage you to thank the editors of CNN’s pages for seeking out the voice of farmers and making an effort to make connections to the farmers producing food for this country.

Opportunity for Food Dialogues

If you’re honestly looking for an opportunity to engage in dialogues with those customers already talking food, I encourage you to check out CNN’s  food page – Eatocracy. These folks are already discussing food topics, current stories, and having some fun along the way. Don’t go in looking to set the world to rights, but if you see opportunity to leave a comment and share your experience, leave a constructive comment that will lead to positive conversations on this page. OR if you’re just looking for a daily coffee conversation, there’s the daily coffee klatsch. Be sure to follow Eatocracy on Facebook and Twitter.

You may find some who aren’t as receptive as others to comments, but I guarantee you there are folks there interested in comments from the agriculture community.

Again, give props to CNN for being one of the few national media outlets regularly welcoming the agriculture community to share a voice in the public’s eye. We’re one of many minorities in this country and welcome the opportunity.

Remember to cultivate those relationships with your local media and continue sharing your story and answering questions others have about the food we eat.

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