2021 What else could go wrong

[Berniez]

I’ve been playing farmer for 20+ years and for the most part have had great returns…until this year. This year has been a total disaster since the New Year.

·         It was a cold wet winter leaving my fields wet and sloppy. It wasn’t just the weather as beavers moved in blocking 2 culverts, thus making a series of shallow lakes on my property instead of fields. They also made a 4-acre pond out of some of the best deer/rabbit habitat I have. ( Yes I get a permit to destroy the beavers/dams/everything but I am not there 24/7 but they are)

·         I had to replace 1 culvert pipe entirely.

·         The cold spring kept my fields too wet to plant but geese and ducks enjoyed it.

I’ve been playing farmer for 20+ years and for the most part have had great returns…until this year. This year has been a total disaster since the New Year.

·         It was a cold wet winter leaving my fields wet and sloppy. It wasn’t just the weather as beavers moved in blocking 2 culverts, thus making a series of shallow lakes on my property instead of fields. They also made a 4-acre pond out of some of the best deer/rabbit habitat I have. ( Yes I get a permit to destroy the beavers/dams/everything but I am not there 24/7 but they are)

·         I had to replace 1 culvert pipe entirely.

·         The cold spring kept my fields too wet to plant but geese and ducks enjoyed it.

·         MY 4wd 82hp- tractor broke down forcing me to delay planting the fields until my 2wd NH 3930 could get onto the fields without getting stuck

·         After draining everything (Backhoe and excavator needed) and planting corn and beans we had no rain for 4 weeks, stunting the growth leaving the fields severely deer damaged. I had to replant the corn and hoping the beans could make it.

     I had some quests over and sprayed my bee hives so their kids won't have to stay away from the hives.....exit 4 hives  Who would suspect that would kill the colonies??

·         We got rain and the crops started looking good UNTIL we had a severe but very localized grape size hail storm  ( My neighbor’s video appeared on TV) that shredded the corn, all the beans and stripped about ½ the apple trees bare..   I replanted the beans.  Again, the beans suffered bird (pigeons) and deer damage and I thought things were going good until the last 2 weeks of heavy rain. The fields are wet with standing water and I’ll be lucky to get some deer cover out of the corn.

·         The cereal rye grew great but it was too wet to combine.  Now there is enough ergot mold growing to poison half the county or allowing enterprising organic chemists to make LSD for the masses.

·         My tractor is still in the shop, delaying other field work

       MY 4wd 82hp- tractor broke down forcing me to delay planting the fields until my 2wd NH 3930 could get onto the fields without getting stuck

·         After draining everything (Backhoe and excavator needed) and planting corn and beans we had no rain for 4 weeks, stunting the growth leaving the fields severely deer damaged. I had to replant the corn and hoping the beans could make it.

·         We got rain and the crops started looking good UNTIL we had a severe but very localized grape size hail storm  ( My neighbor’s video appeared on TV) that shredded the corn, all the beans and stripped about ½ the apple trees bare..   I replanted the beans.  Again, the beans suffered bird (pigeons) and deer damage and I thought things were going good until the last 2 weeks of heavy rain. The fields are wet with standing water and I’ll be lucky to get some deer cover out of the corn.

·         The cereal rye grew great but it was too wet to combine.  Now there is enough ergot mold growing to poison half the county or allowing enterprising organic chemists to make LSD for the masses.

·         My tractor is still in the shop, delaying other field work

So all in all it has been and still is an interesting year….and with our Governor hinting about more restrictions …..one can only hope for the best

[wolc123]

Do not despair.  Spring plantings are overrated when it comes to food plots for deer.  I killed my best buck on our farm the one year in the last 150 when it was too wet to plant any corn.

My suggestion would be a few nice big plots of wheat/soybean/white clover mix planted between Aug 25 and Sept 15.

[Berniez]

Problem is the 4 acre cornfield was sprayed for corn Simazine,2-4 D, Dual Magnum.  That prevents wheat soybean or clover to be grown for 4 months effectively preventing  the replant scenario.  Though with rain everyday I may get away with wheat as the herbicides are getting washed out.  Its so wet I actually planted a rice hybrid  (from Hancock seed) which supposedly grows in 70 days.  We shall see. My gravel fields will grow if I plant but, its close to the road and I already get enough road kill without trying. I forgot to mention one of my treestands  was destroyed when one of the storms ripped the 60in diameter willow into the ground.  On the bright side, I wasn't in it.

[Shoots100]

Sorry about your situation.

Take your aggravation out on the beaver and fertilize a field by throwing them in a wood chipper, while tripping on ergot mold LSD.

A friend up north had to dig some new irrigation trenches in his fields to save some of his crops using a horse and plow, as his tractors were useless in the mud.

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Shoots100

[avg. joe]

Welcome to life of a farmer! There aren't many years that everything goes right, or actually any years that everything goes right! I've had to hay cows in late July because of no rain and have had them nearly destroy the pastures because of too much rain. There have been years where planting was late because it is too wet and years that planting never took off because it is too dry. It's just the way farming is, you keep doing it not because it is easy, you do it because it is part of your way of life.

[wolc123]

 

9 hours ago, avg. joe said:

Welcome to life of a farmer! There aren't many years that everything goes right, or actually any years that everything goes right! I've had to hay cows in late July because of no rain and have had them nearly destroy the pastures because of too much rain. There have been years where planting was late because it is too wet and years that planting never took off because it is too dry. It's just the way farming is, you keep doing it not because it is easy, you do it because it is part of your way of life.

One thing is for sure, I dont miss raising beef cattle at all.  Getting most of the protein that my family needs from free-ranging venison is so much better.  Dealing with the hay was my least favorite part about the cattle, followed closely by manure.  

Clover/corn fed venison tastes better, is way healthier to eat, and is much more fun to acquire.  Not having to deal with hay, manure, vets, frozen water in winter, etc., are big bonuses.  I pity the fools who rely on domesticated livestock for their food.

Edited July 20, 2021 by wolc123

[LET EM GROW]

Hope things dry out and you cna get some good fall blends in to work for you this fall. The worst part about wet conditions, is getting a machine on it no doubt. But with damp soil, you can easily spray the plot with a light quad and spread seed and the moisture alone will germinate the seed. No till plantings are great back up plans..