It’s official! We are in a DROUGHT!
Raking up some second cut hay into rows!
The word “drought” is one that I do not use lightly, because I know just what a challenge the opposite extreme can be, and it does seem a very wet trend usually follows an abnormally dry one. However, the effects of this summer’s rain deficits are now significant, and cannot be ignored.
WEATHER CHALLENGES
It seems it was just last week I was documenting in a blog post the challenges that the extremely wet spring had brought us. And it is true, we had very few consecutive dry days until late June here in New Hampshire. But now, all that is completely reversed. It took some time for the dry weather to really manifest itself in the fields and pastures, but the lack of precipitation has started to significantly limit regeneration of the forage and hay. Given the date on the calendar, I am not sure that the pastures will ever rebound or recover this season. At this point, a frost is possible any time, and even if the pattern was to change and we were to get average precipitation again, I believe it would be “too little, too late”.
Despite the setbacks and challenges the drought has brought, we do have some things to be thankful for.
We have actually picked up more rain from frontal passages and isolated convective thunderstorm passages than many other farms in the area have received. There have been a few instances where we picked up .25-.5” of rain when others around us got nothing at all. While this rainfall certainly did not rectify the drought, it did help to temporize some of the most extreme effects until now. The most severe drought in the region near us is currently centered on northern portions of Vermont and New Hampshire. In these areas, numerous observing stations reported precipitation totals for the past three-month period that were in the top-5 driest on record, with Berlin, New Hampshire reporting the most significant deficit at -3.95 inches (driest on record), according to data from the Southeast Regional Climate Center (SERCC). For more information about the drought conditions in the Northeast, please follow this link to the National Weather Service Drought Monitor service.
SEASONS ARE CHANGING
So what are the implications for Moose Run Farm going forward?
1. We are more convinced than ever that rotational grazing is a viable means of livestock management for us. Despite the extreme weather conditions, we have yet to run out of fresh pasture to rotate the livestock into. It is possible that we will run out in September for the steers, but so far we are holding out strong!
2. We are estimating that we will need more hay this winter than we normally do, as we are likely looking at an earlier start to the winter feeding season secondary to dwindling forage supply.
3. Our 2nd cutting hay on Farnsworth Hill and in Unity remains slow in coming, and we do not expect to get a 3rd cut of hay anywhere. Although our hay production numbers are not where we hoped they would be given our early season projections, we are thankful for the hay we have bene able to make, and the small amount we were able to sell so far in 2025.
Fall is in the air, nights are cooler, and the days are getting shorter. We know that the cold winter will be here before we know it. We are going to take advantage of the dry weather to finish up our firewood, and attempt to complete a few small projects that need to be finished before winter here on Moose Run Farm.
TURKEYS!
We are currently taking reservations for Thanksgiving turkeys! A lot of our customers are repeat from previous years, but we do have a few extra birds available this year. If you are interested in reserving a turkey, now is a great time to reach out to us! Please email us for more information! Here is a picture of the Artisan Black Turkeys perching on the door of the coop! Sandy LOVES it when they do this on the nights she has to shut them in!
