A few days ago Dale Daniels hooked up a five-bottom plow to his tractor and spent the afternoon reshaping terraces in soybean fields south of Humboldt.
The opportunity arose because of the ongoing dry spell that has gripped Allen County since late September. Rain of any substance hasn’t been recorded in more than five weeks and since Sept. 24 only a little over two inches have fallen.
“The terraces were getting a little worked down,” from farming and heavy rainfall over the past several years, Daniels said, and noted that keeping the erosion-control structures in place was more work than those outside agriculture’s inner circle probably realized.
He and son Scott farm together. They spend considerable time keeping terraces and waterways in good shape. Dry weather is a godsend for the procedure.
The dry fall also permitted the Danielses to complete their fall harvest of soybeans and corn in timely fashion and to work the ground, an annual chore that many years doesn’t get done until late winter or early spring. If the rains continue late into the fall, over-winter drying is a slow process.
Winter wheat was planted in more volume this year than several previous ones and the dry weather has led to mixed results, Daniels said.
“Some of the later wheat is kind of hurt,” Daniels said. “It’d be nice if it were a little taller,” to stand against the harshness of winter.
Although, the dry soil holds another kind of advantage.
Daniels explained: Wet soil freezes, which causes expansion; when weather warms the soil shifts and there is a danger of the wheat plant’s tap root breaking, which kills the plant.
But, so much is iffy, he allowed. Some moisture coupled with mildly warm weather would lead to more development of the wheat’s roots, which would be helpful.
Even so, Daniels added, “most wheat is pretty hardy. It can stand of a lot of weather.”
WATER is a concern of farmers with livestock, but the heavy September rains filled ponds to the brim and most still have sufficient water to carry cattle well into winter.
“We’ve had to chop ice just a couple of times so far,” said Charlie Kerr, who has about 100 head of cattle in pastures north and east of Iola. “Our ponds had been cleaned out so we’re in pretty good shape today. There could be some problems in smaller ones and those that have silted in.”
If — more likely when — extreme cold weather hits the area, ice on ponds will reach several inches in thickness. Then, stockmen will have to cut ice several feet from banks to find water in those with sloppy silt around the edges.
“The concern is that cattle will get out in a pond and get headed downhill (from the slope of the pond’s bottom) and not be able to get out,” Kerr said, recalling that he, like practically every other farmer in the area, has lost cattle that became bogged down in a pond and died from exposure.
Kerr noted that the mild weather leading up to today’s official kickoff to winter has been favorable, along with dry feedlots.
Cows that have dry coats and don’t have to wade through mud, which often reaches bog proportions around hay feeders in wetter weather, can get by on less feed and stay healthier, Kerr said.
The September rains prompted a little more growth in cool season grass, native and fescue, and also helps with cold-weather forage, he said.
“The dry weather really has been a plus,” Kerr said, and also observed that “it’s hard for me to drive by a feeder that doesn’t have hay in it and not go after a big bale.
“But, you don’t want to get cattle too fat in winter,” he said, rather just plump enough to sustain their daily activity and keep the fire in their innards warm enough to ward off the cold.
