From the Pastures: Really good help

We did get some rains, but it’s dry here again. One or two good rains don’t break a drought. So far the old ewes have cleaned up four farmsteads and I still have two more to clean up. My 4-year-old grandson thinks he has to “help” Danny, the high school boy that is working for me through the high school work program. So, I’ve been using him with Danny to move the flock from one lot to the next, pull the white posts that are attached to the net fences out of the ground, so Danny can pick up the whole 164-foot-long net fence, and he comes in handy when I have sheep loose. He really is good help, it makes him feel like an adult and he’s learning a good work ethic. I just have trouble finding enough work to keep him busy.

I’ve stored all the water hoses and waterers for the winter. Now I just need to set up my winter watering points, but it’s hard to do that when it’s 60 to 70 degrees. I always seem to have just one more job to do. Other than rotating the three groups of sheep about every three days all I’ve done is weigh lambs and sell lambs. I do have a bit of advice about cover crops, though. The winter annuals I planted on Sept. 15 have not grown very much and are only about 6 inches tall on Nov. 11. I really should have planted them right after I harvested the wheat, the first week of July, even though I was in the middle of a drought. I would have still been able to graze the weeds and the cover crop would have had a two-month earlier start on growing. And that would have given me something to graze this fall. Right now, I’m thinking I won’t get to graze the winter cover crop this fall.

Have a happy and thankful Thanksgiving!