Third Rainiest May on Record in New Hampshire?
The weather this spring has been hard on farmers, but it has been great for Christmas Trees and our new tree transplants!
One positive about having multiple different crops and agricultural endeavors going on at the same time is that when the weather is bad for one, it’s often good for another!
That has been our story this year so far. While we were looking forward to getting an early start on our pasturing and hay production, the weather has been anything but conducive for that!
It has been a very cold, long, wet spring this year. Between January 1 2025 and June 1, 2025 the average temperature here in Washington, NH has been 36.4⁰ and we have received 10.65” of rainfall in the month of May 2025 alone! The average rainfall for May is usually around 3.6”, so we are just under 3x the average!
What are the implications of this weather pattern for our farm going forward into summer 2025?
The cool temperatures and excessive rains have led to accelerated hay and forage growth. The pastures are currently looking very green, tall, and healthy. The challenge will be if the ground is firm enough for us to safely operate hay equipment to harvest the 1st cut hay crop.
We have also been rotating the steers more rapidly through sections of pasture, to ensure that their hooves do not damage the roots of the forage in the soft ground conditions. At one point we even brought the steers back to their shelter for 2 days, as SNOW was in the forecast in the 3rd week of May!
If the wet weather continues, it will make haying more of a challenge, and it certainly has set us back on some of our projects. However, the very wet spring has erased any residual drought concerns from our warm and dry summer last year, and has strengthened the Christmas trees and added a lot of volume to the pastures… So for now, we will consider it a positive thing and a blessing, even though our rain coats have seen more use than we hoped, and I still have not put away my insulated rubber boots for the summer!
