Our farm had 10.6 inches of rain in the 18 days beginning June 11th. As is usual in these very wet times, we lost about ten acres of pasture and another ten to twenty acres of growing crops as one of our main drainage systems ran backwards, letting in to our farm the water that had been dumped into the drainage upstream.
The timing of the rain was tough as well coming just in time to stop cultivating, the most critical weed control activity for our organic cropping system. Rain grows grass, of course, which usually means the pastures shine in a wet time. But the amount of rain in this short time made even the pasture soils soft and susceptible to compaction damage. We will suffer the results of this overload of moisture for some years to come, in reduced productivity and weedy conditions in both the cropping and pasture parts of the farm.
Fast growing grass in a rainy time also tends to short out the electric fence and as a result we had cattle out three times, twice on and once off of our farm. We found out about this first with a call from a neighbor and immediately after a call from the cops. Any farmer hates hearing this kind of message, but it is the very best kind of neighbor that calls us anyway. And the cop is just doing his job. We got them back but the impact remains. We are checking all the animals at dark every night trying to find trouble before it starts. Sleep is interrupted and my arms ache from swinging the machete trying to clear the big weeds back from the fence.
So does all this mean we will give up pasturing? No, it does not. Pasturing simply works better than crop farming. What it does mean is that we will be even more insistent in our conversations with anyone who hears us about the reality of climate change and its impacts. We cannot afford the luxury of being wishy washy about a problem that is staring us in the face.
And we don't have time to monkey with politicians who will not act on it, will even take us backward because they think they personally have a way out figured and can make much money on the ride down into whatever is coming.
