extreme weather

As the weather gets more extreme, the importance of local observation and response grows. For instance, this late summer we notice a surplus of ragweed volunteering in our pastures. Ragweed, like dandelion in the spring, is a marker weed,indicating bare ground or a sparseness in the grass sward. Possible causes are many. Could it be the dry summer just past, or the wet spring we had? Maybe it was the even wetter spring and summer in 2011, or hoof compaction encouraged by the terribly wet October in 2010, when we pulled the cattle off for a week and fed hay because we were worried about destroying the pasture entirely. Maybe it is the increased sow traffic, as the mother sows have been allowed free range of the pastures on a daily basis this entire year. Maybe we are grazing too long, or coming back too soon in the rotation, trying to get too many grazing passes in a season. Maybe we are just overstocked. Farming is the ability to think clearly about these possibilities and then choose the simplest and most effective solution. Should we reseed, increase fertility with a manure application, better control sow traffic, decrease stocking density, or, most costly install better drainage or irrigate? First we must think! Farming is often underpaid, but never boring. It is also going to be increasingly complex and difficult as the weather gets more erratic. Jim