Forecast

The other day I posted about using native plants in our flower beds around the house.  Texas Sage was the one in the photograph that accompanied the post.  It is known as the Barometer Plant and in South Texas it is known for predicting rain with its blooms.  Well, ours is blooming like crazy even though it has only been planted a short while (photo at bottom of post).

We certainly need the rain, but not as desperately as most of the rest of the state and the Southwestern U.S. in general.  Drought conditions continue and rainfall deficits have left many lakes far below their desired levels.  This condition doesn't bode well for the cities and small communities that depend on those lakes for water.

It also continues to pressure the cattle industry.  High beef prices in the grocery store are directly related to declining numbers of cattle and a growing population that demands high quality protein.  We will not see significant rebuilding of the national cow herd when severe drought limits the availability of suitable forage for grazing.

I am concerned that many people both within and outside the cattle industry will seek to blame the problem on something other than the weather.  Generally, it is the beef packers who are saddled with fault when it comes to beef prices.  It is simple economics surrounding supply and demand with production constraints affecting both sides of the equation.  Most don't see it that way and will call for government intervention.  Such intervention will be directed at the packers because they are everyone's favored whipping boy.  It should instead be directed at urban sprawl which is removing suitable grazing land at a pace faster than drought.  The politics don't work so instead of fixing the problem, government intervention will likely only make it worse.

Oil prices are another issue which is constraining not only to cattle production but to almost every industry.  The blame will fall squarely on the current administration and their actions in Iran which have temporarily caused supply disruptions.  This is one where political pressure again will dictate how and when we withdraw from that action rather than suffering the short-term pain in order to receive the long-term gain of curbing the radicalized regime which has long declared "Death to America."

There are many other issues that we currently face, and everyone has their opinion on how they will turn out.  We all have a "forecast" for the future, and it is based on our personal experience, education, and otherwise gained knowledge.  It's too bad that none of it is as reliable as our little Texas Sage, the Barometer Plant.

We had to cage the sage in order to protect it from rabbits as well as a dog that thinks the flower bed is his napping ground.  Pardon the rusty T-post -- I believe in endless recycling.

The Scent of Rain

Once again, the rains have passed us by.  Each day for the last several the National Weather Service has shown us to have a significant chance of rain.  Heavy showers have fallen in many places around us, but we received only 1/10 of an inch.  It is dry.

First a hint of puffy white

Appears up in the sky

Then slowly grows and grows and grows

Until it fills the eye.

The promise of the quenching drops

Wafts across the land

On gentle breezes flowing by

This parched and weary strand.

The leaden gray with streaks of light

Approaches from the west

With winds that cool the sultry land

And promise moist rest.

The sand that stings flows ever higher,

The cattle turn their back,

The storm clouds flow across the land,

The sky turns nearly black.

But, soon it passes on its way

Its promise hoped in vain

Leaving nothing here behind

Except a scent of rain.

I'm Out of Superlatives

In normal years it is only the crop farmers that pray for rain.  In a drought year the ranchers also pray for rain to fill the tanks (ponds for all you non-Texans).  In a severe drought the ranchers pray for rain so the grass will grow.  In extreme drought the ranchers pray for rain to put out the fires that are racing across the land.  I don't know what superlative to attach to this year's drought, even the town folk are praying for rain!

Maybe some of those prayers are working.  Blessed drops of water are falling on my roof as I type this.  Praise be to God who brings the rain in its season.

"I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit." __ Leviticus 26:4

Keep on prayin' folks, it seems to be doing some good.

Chris

Another Day

It was another day of calling on potential customers.  As I drove along I couldn't help but enjoy the green.  It is beautiful here.  It rained last night and early this morning.  The high temperature was in the upper 70's.  It was absolutely perfect weather except for a little wind.  But, I'm used to wind.

I keep hearing reports from home of temperatures over 100 and winds at 20 - 30 mph and gusts even higher.  That kind of blast furnace heat is sucking what little moisture there is out of the soil.  Cities and counties are banning fireworks and starting to implement water restrictions.  Living in the country, with very dry grass all around me, I am thankful for the fireworks ban and not really affected by the water restrictions except that maybe it will leave a little more in the aquifer for the future.

Well, I don't have anything much worth saying so I guess I'll end here.

Chris

Those Waskley Wabbitts!

The drought here has had a definite impact on the cottontails and jackrabbits around our place.  They have nothing to eat out in the pasture.  It still looks like the dead of winter and contains no moisture.  In fact, I have it so short that most of them have moved on to the neighbor's places because there is no cover for them on my small acreage of grass.

To the south of me though, is what was once CRP that has been taken out of the program and has been the home to 8 horses and a jack for the past couple of years.  It still has some grass -- in clumps -- where the jackrabbits and cottontails can hide.  They can't quite reach the water in the tank from which the horses drink though, so, they come to the one place where they can get moisture -- my lawn.

I have the green oasis in the midst of the unbroken sea of amber that surrounds me.  It is green because my sprinkler system (I am so thankful for an automatic underground system) keeps it that way.  But, each morning, it also forms a dew thanks to our cool nights.  So, the rabbits come on over for breakfast and a sip of water.

My lawn shows the damage.  Of course, I don't have to mow as frequently because of their foraging, but, they don't eat it evenly.  It seems they like certain areas better than others.

Those of you who know me know that I grew up where rabbits weren't necessarily looked upon as cute little bunnies but, as full-blown pests.  That attitude has stayed with me through the years.  I guess the words of my grandfather sum it all up when he once told me, "Five jackrabbits will eat as much grass as a cow.  I can't make any money feedin' jackrabbits."

So, I keep my sons' pellet gun by the back door.  I can't even seem to thin 'em out!  I guess what they say about the reproductive capabilities of rabbits must be true......

A Hint of Moisture

There was the smell of rain
On the air last night
And a touch of cooler weather

The promised moisture
Only came near
But, left us dry as ever

And today again
The wind does blow,
The sun is bright as ever

But, finally now
We've had a glimpse
Of perhaps some better weather

Another Day of Wind

For days on end
The unrelenting wind
Scours the parched land.

The temperatures soar
As the months wear on,
Yet barely mid-Spring.

The sound of sirens
Carries upon the gale
As another fire rages

Removing dead fuel;
Last year's grasses
That might have sustained

The few cattle remaining
On the moistureless land,
Once so verdant.

Tears glisten on a creased face
Whose years of labor
Are loaded on trailers.

Another pasture burns.
Another herd is gone.
Another rancher hunkers down.

Forcast is Smog over L.A.

The smog will certainly thicken (heh, heh)!

LA residents told to cut showers as drought deepens

Wed Jun 6, 2007 5:20PM EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles residents were urged on Wednesday to take shorter showers, reduce lawn sprinklers and stop throwing trash in toilets in a bid to cut water usage by 10 percent in the driest year on record.
With downtown Los Angeles seeing a record low of 4 inches
of rain since July 2006 -- less than a quarter of normal -- and with a hot, dry summer ahead, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the city needed "to change course and conserve water to steer clear of this perfect storm."
It is the driest year since rainfall records began 130 years ago....(complete article here)

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This is only going to become more and more common -- not because of global warming (a natural phenomenon) -- but because of the population pressure on arid regions. We as a country might want to consider some form of national planning and zoning (I know, that's very anti-capitalistic) to control 1) urban sprawl into prime agricultural areas, 2) environmental pressures -- we already see this on where concentrated livestock facilities can locate and it should be an important consideration in locating many industries, and 3) pressure on water supplies. We could avert a lot of future headaches and heartaches for our children with a little planning now. Sadly, we can't let our government lead such an effort. They are notoriously short-sighted -- just look at Social Security and the potential disaster our children and grand children face with that!