Growing season starts in our area of the country with the beginning of irrigation water deliveries. In years when we have adequate snowpack on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and specifically the Walker River Basin, the deliveries start on March 1. This year we had well below average snow pack and reservoir storage at 8% to begin the season. The peak flow of the West Walker River was reached on April 29, 2013 at 476 cubic ft per second. The peak flows for 2010 and 2011 respectively were 1,350 cubic ft per second and 1,980 cubic ft per second.
In most of the United States crop production depends on rainfall directly on the cropland for their moisture supply to the crops and also water supplies for livestock and wildlife. In the high desert areas of the Western United States the winter snowpack in the mountains are the reservoirs and source of water for both surface flows and the replenishment of the underground aquifers. The annual rainfall on our ranch is less than 7 inches, so we do not depend on it for crop production, however any snow or rain is always welcome. Most years moisture comes in the winter in the form of snow from three or four storms.
We know that the year is going to be a challenge when one of the most vital inputs we have, which is water, is in very limited supply. Making plans for the season are much more challenging. Keeping expenses at a minimum while optimizing production is a stressful season long task. A plan that focuses on early season maximization of crop growth, when irrigation is most likely available, works the best for our operation. Providing increased nutrient availability for growth early in the growing season and strengthening plants to withstand stresses later were our goal in the Spring. Application of top dressed fertilizer, according to the needs indicated by our soil sample results, was done before the first irrigation in late March and early May. Two full irrigations that supplied about three inches of available water were applied before the first cutting, which we estimated to be sufficient for crop needs, with beginning available soil moisture estimates. This was done in the attempt to harvest at least one half of the annual production of hay in the first cutting. We also must take into consideration longer term weather forecasts to plan for snow melt water supply affected by temperature. It is really a WAG! Hoping that the first crop of hay is cut, cured, baled, and in the barns, so fields can be irrigated before water supplies are turned off really adds to the normal seasonal stress levels.
I suppose some of you wonder why we agriculture folks talk so much about weather? Well, here we go into second crop production. We were able to irrigate everything once, and half of the acreage twice before all irrigation water supply was shut off on July 12. We were hoping for cooler weather at this point. Mother Nature had its own ideas, however. We had the hottest July on record with 95F-110F degree temperatures for all of July. Not one drop of rain fell on the fields in July. We were not so fortunate. We were able to harvest a second cutting of about 60% of an average yield. We were thankful for that much.
We did, however, have a thunderstorm over the mountains ten miles west of the ranch, that caused a fire that burned 3500 acres. We enjoyed more than a week of smoke in the air and the loss of spring rangeland for our neighbors sheep operation. A snarky side note: The opinion of our government agency whiz kids="The fire was good for the ecology" What does that green and fuzzy statement really mean? Do any of you know? Just one of many huge fires that have ravaged the forests and rangelands of the Western US, costing lives of firefighters, and millions upon millions of dollars. Will people that are great distances from this fiasco ever realize that "PUBLIC LANDS" MANAGED BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES DON'T WORK!!! It is a very very costly mistake and private businesses, wildlife, hard working citizens, and the "environment" all lose. Disaster has become an "Industry"for private companies and government alike! End of Rant!
I feel so much better now.
Here we are at the end of August breathing dense smoke for more than week now from the Rim Fire (Yosemite). We just completed what I would call a salvage operation, cutting a little third crop from a third of the acreage. It will be about one-half ton per acre, and will clean up the fields. We will graze sheep on the balance of the fields in about a month.
Early fall rain would be a very welcome sight, and we are praying very hard for a reasonable snowpack in the mountains this late fall and winter.
I do have a lot to be thankful for though as a cancer survivor. My 92 year old Father and 88 year old Mother are still with us, and my lovely wife has graciously put up with my moods all year. My daughters and their families are healthy and happy. I have a grandson who is a senior in high school and one in first grade. They grow up very fast, and yes I'm getting older.
Looking forward to Fall!
