Make it Rain

I don’t know if you have noticed but we have been going through a little bit of a dry spell. In fact, I would call it a drought except I know people in Western Kansas and what we have had is a dry spell and not a drought. My friends who have hung on out west through multiple years of drought have my complete, everlasting admiration for surviving as long as they have. Those people are tough as nails and resourceful as all get out.

Over the past couple of months, I have been asked about the lack of rain several times and my response are always the same. This is the best time of the year to have a drought. We aren’t growing anything, and mud is bad when you are feeding or have animals having babies. Sure, the ponds could use the water and it would be nice to have sub-soil moisture but let’s face it any precipitation in November, December, January and February is more of a hassle than a help. The lone exception being a White Christmas and that can easily be overdone.

No, I didn’t worry, the rain would come, it always does and soon we would be wishing for dry weather. We ag people are a fickle bunch and seldom happy with the status quo. I thought March would arrive and along with it mud and standing water. Well folks, it’s the middle of March and we have had a grand total of zero, zip, nadda for rainfall. I am officially concerned, it may never rain again, and we will live in the middle of the Great American Dessert.

OK, so I am being a little melodramatic, but the recent weather pattern is a cause for concern. It is hard for me to wish for rain when we are still having new lambs and calves. The dry weather and dry ground have made it much easier to where lambing and calving are concerned. My mud boots have gotten minimal use this year and that is hard to complain about. However, I have seen signs that concern me.

Just last week I left the windows down on not one, but both of my pickups and it was even cloudy that night. The next morning, I woke up in a panic and rushed outside as soon as I remembered only to find a both interiors to be bone dry. I even had one with the open window to the west and one with the open window to the south and nothing, not a drop.

To make matters worse I had left a whole pallet of protein tubs on the back of one of the pickups and that always causes rain, even when it is not predicted. During this dry spell I have put off feeding hay until morning when rain is predicted that night. I have left the tractor in places that would be hard to get to if it rained and it remained dry. The kicker was when I put off working the garden even though Jennifer asked me too because rain was predicted for the weekend and still it remained dry.

This dry spell has me worried and I wonder how much longer it will be until we are in a drought instead of “abnormally dry”. I am not sure what normal is in Kansas and I am not sure that abnormal might be normal. It isn’t like rain has been lacking from the forecasts. There is a chance for rain every three days or so. The weatherman predicts it to be a good chance a week out and shrinks that good chance as the system gets closer. Drizzle is about as heavy as the rain gets. It has gotten so bad I only watch one weather forecast a night and I am thinking of going cold turkey. I just can’t handle anymore disappointment.

So, I am going for broke. I know that is not a stretch, I make my living from farming and ranching so in a sense I am always going for broke. This weekend I am leaving home with ewes and cows to lamb and calve yet. I am going to wean a set of lambs before I leave. I am not going to try to have any chores done ahead because it has been so dry, chores are not that bad. I am not going to leave fuel in anything or move any of the bunks closer to hard ground. After all, it’s never going to be muddy again. Before I leave I have several things I must get done that can’t be done if it is wet.

The ultimate is to write a whiny column about how it doesn’t rain a week ahead of time. If this was the usual pattern it would rain during that week and make me look stupid. But sense it isn’t ever going to rain again, what is the risk? I don’t always believe in reverse phycology, but desperate times call for desperate measures. You can all thank me next week.