Even the weeds are suffering

INDIANOLA, Neb. — You know it’s dry when the pigweeds won’t even grow in the wheat stubble. When driving around rural areas, you can see how the moisture must have fallen in very sporadic spots. As I’ve mentioned before, a couple of our pastures west of our house are so dry we have been feeding cows for about a month, but closer to home the grass so far is holding out for more rain. We would sure like to get some soon, but the dryland corn may already be taking the trip.

The calves don’t appear to be growing as quickly as they usually do. I would think since the grass isn’t nice and lush, the nutritional value is also less than in most years. So not only are we spending more to raise cattle, but the weaning weights are going to knock us out of the saddle too.

Farmer Tom has had so many issues with his pivots this summer, you would think the dumb things know it’s so darn hot and dry that they want to go on strike. At least the weather has made the summer fallow less weedy so decreased cost in going over those acres. Usually, by this time, the unfenced pockets are weed deep but even those aren’t very tall.

Luckily, we weren’t affected by the wildfires in any of our pastures, so we didn’t lose any cattle or fence posts during that awful time. I noticed uncomfortably that the national media didn’t even talk about Nebraska, then or now, as we deal with scorching temperatures. It’s as if the Midwest isn’t important in their scheme of things.

I guess we aren’t a swing state so we really don’t count. One wonders how the wildlife is getting by. Don’t hear the activists mentioning sending monetary relief here. I’m sure their CEOs have spent it on T-shirts. Everybody has their own agenda.