rain 4.5 inches in less than two hours and by morning 5 inch

[sporthorse]

Thunder and lightning traumatizing half the herd. I got stuck in the barn . 4 3o pm looked like a t-storm rolling in. 5 pm sideways rain.got real hairy like hurricane season rain I have seen at coastal areas when I worked for power company in Tampa area.
I got the stallions up and fed but by the time 445pm.I went to go drop feed to mares and gelding stalls 5-7 pm .we had so much rain it was like rivers running in the yard and there was water evrywhere standing on ground that never has water stand. we had a pond in the big pastures which had fence posts sticking up only inches (Normally dry 6 acre pastures).the rain did finally soak in by morning. I had checked rain gauge at 7 pm when i did get the rest of the horses and gaots up andit was past 4.5 inches and still raining some.I am thankfull the cracks of lightnig so close did no harm. we had only a few limbs down here and there.

[JennLM]

Hopefully you dry out without any damage.

Now I know where our rain went. We were promised over 14 days of rain lately and had maybe 2 minutes worth. So send that rain on down this way please.

[Carol Nelson]

Join the crowd...when it rains, it pours!

[Pasomom]

Seems like Mother Nature is either: feast or famine! No happy inbetween!

[motorgypsy]

Good Grief!!! We're not that far south of you guys and still fairly dry. Rain is predicted tomorrow though.

We came through a very bad storm on the way to FL Friday night though. Couldn't see a foot ahead and we were traveling at night to keep the horses cool. Very scary.

[Pinto Paso]

I cant remember the last time it rained here, town (7 miles away) has had 2 or 3 heavy rains that lasted a while but not a drop here..

You can dig down well over a foot here and just get dust, not even dirt ... just fine dust. Pastures are mostly gone... we are lucky in that we are opening up some new areas with expanded fencing and the horses will have another 10 - 15 acres of good aged grass as well as new growth kudzu so they will be happy for a couple of months ... after that back to complete hay feeding.. we have not been off some type of hay suplementing all year.

Wish we would get some of your rain for sure....

[DSDECKERT]

cant remember the last time it rained here, town (7 miles away) has had 2 or 3 heavy rains that lasted a while but not a drop here..


Same here Pinto - everyone around us gets it, and we're lucky to get a drop!

Pastures are drying up again, and forecast for the week is HOT and DRY

[Pinto Paso]

What is hay availability like in your area Deb??? We are bringing ours in from MO.. Our second semi load arrives today.

[JennLM]

More days of suposed rain, overcast but no rain. They should be looking into seeding all these clouds fo this area.

[motorgypsy]

We're so dry in SC that our hay producer got 5 FIVE bales of hay from a pasture that he usually gets 1000 yes one THOUSAND bales of hay. So we just moved three of our mares to Florida so the remaining six mares will have enough hay. The problem the local hay producers have is even though they expect August rain, IF we get cold weather in September early which we have on occasion, thefall cutting of fescue hay will NOT cure out and will be worthless as feed. So we're buying all we can of the spring fescue.

Our SC pasture grass is also nearly destroyed. Normally we buy and feed no hay in the summer and feed 1/2 scoop of grain. We're feeding 5 bales a day so far this summer. It's very bad indeed.

[DSDECKERT]

I just got 100 bales from WI - let me know if you have any extra - what kind did you get????

[Jane Hurl]

You're going to hate me! Up here the hay season has been awesome. There is so much hay that prices will be down.

We are in our new place and we have already put up 400 round bales ... and we're not finished! I expect we'll add another 50 bales to that before the field is done. Plus we have another 80 acres of greenfeed that we won't touch for a while yet, and we'll probably get a fair whack of second cut alfalfa to boot! At the old place we're putting up at least 200 more round bales!

It is an awesome year for hay.

[Carol Nelson]

So when you guys ship in hay from out of state...is it usually good??? Does it keep well???

[motorgypsy]

Jane can we come see you if the hay situation gets critical??? :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Carol Florida uses a lot of Canadian alfalfa and T/A and it's always very nice. Just pricey and our guys need less nutritious hay because they love to eat but will get fat on that stuff if they have it free choice obviously. And if we limit it they eat the trees and dig up the roots of anything growing in their paddocks and eat them. So we look for less nutritious grass hay for them.

[DSDECKERT]

Shipping in seems to be the only alternative to us these days - grass hay is $8.25 a bale!

I turn my guys out 10 hours a day - with a 2 hour break in the heat of the day - to get them off and try to save what little grass I have.

The two batches of Hay I've gotten from WI have been great - Alfalfa mix - I just store it in the barn under a tarp and it keeps fine.

[Pinto Paso]

I have been soooo pleased with the 2 semi loads brought in... I like the guy I am buying it from and the truck driver makes sure I am on a back haul so freight is cheap!!!

I am buying an orchard mixed grass and the quality is far better than even the bermuda here which is stressed...

My last load will be an orchard mixed grass with about 10 - 15% alfalfa and we will use that during the most sever part of winter - there wont be any switch over because 90% of the feed will be the same with just an addition of a bit of alfalfa...

I inspect the hay when it arrives and if it isnt good I send the driver on his way - that is the understanding I have so there is no point in sending bad hay!!

They are saying that just south/east of us a bit, before they started delivering hay locals were selling hay for 100/round bale (smaller) and even with shipping I am paying less than half that..

Since the locals here are price gouging - I think I will bring in my hay from now on - I was my suppliers largest customer, he tried gouging me and now he has lost me as a customer... may not hurt him right now (although he has called a few times to see if I need hay) but when the weather cooperates and he has plenty of hay he wont be selling to me.. they dont grow alfalfa here so I cant get the quality of hay I am getting from further west...