It is dry out there.

[vc]

Went to the Western Bonanza show over the weekend, cut across the 46 and it was pretty depressing, the foot hills are usually green this time of year, only place there was any grass is where what little moisture they have gotten, ran off of the road in a low spot. Talked to a couple of the owners of some wineries, they have received about 2 inches of rain since July. Did not look good, The Grapevine was the driest I had ever seen it for this time of year. I know we are bad, they guys that dry farm grain hay aren't planting this year, not enough moisture in the ground to even start.

As for the cattle show, I think this show had the deepest set of quality cattle, usually you can sort out the top 2 or three, pretty quick in a class of 8 or 9, this year the top 4 to 6 were quality in almost all classes. Judges did a good job finding cattle that were sound, functional, and had a future. In the progress and prospect calves they were looking for cattle that were quality but they also wanted calves that had the potential finish at a good market weight. I think state fair is going to be tough this year, at least it looks that way from the calves I saw.

 

[knabe]

here's a pic of commercial cattle being fed almond hulls and various hay products including sudan grass, wheat straw, rice straw, TEFF/alfalfa every day. you can just see some green coming up in the hills. the pic is located east over the hills and a little north from paso robles. this area is literally between where rain visits from the north and south so it's in a region where low pressure systems meet and doesn't get much rain unless very strong systems come in and is one of the last places to get rain when fronts come in. as for highway 46, there is a region called the carrizo plains. in this region, if land is sown to grains, it is sometimes common to fallow (not plant that year).


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrizo_Plain

 

[jason]

Kinda caught me by surprise, but snow does equate to that much rainfall.  I would have thought that snow, slowly melting would really saturate the ground, but from what I heard the conversion is 10 inches of snow to 1 inch of water.

We are 1 step up from a drought in eastern ks, we did get some rain last year, but still sorely in deficit because of a couple real bad years.

 

[vc]

One of the winery owners was telling me how the state wants to come in and take over the water rights for their wells, so they can help the farmers manage the water better, they are doing this to benefit the farmers. They will take over their water, put a meter on their wells and them charge them for the water they use. How could you not jump at the chance to let the government take over the most important part of your operation, what could go wrong.

He was telling me that the Paso area sits on one of the largest aquifers in the western states, and that is what the state wants to get their hands on. He was also telling me the people in the area are screaming that the aquifer is not recharging itself because of all the new wineries, he made the comment that since it was created by the last ice age it might be a while before it fills again. The place that are sinking their wells deep have plenty of water, the areas were the wells are shallow are having issues. He hit water at 200, the driller told him to go to 450 and he would have water through his life time. He went the 450 feet.

 

[knabe]

the true source of water savings is population control.


people should be charged a tax for having kids, rather than getting a tax break, credit, subsidy, welfare, whatever.


drop immigration to 500,000 per year.


at this point, i don't even care about illegal immigration anymore.

 

[knabe]

They will take over their water, put a meter on their wells and them charge them for the water they use.

they charge by the amount.  our water company well is charged as it's in a water district.  the government baits you by putting you in a water district by "providing" water from somewhere, but you give up control of your water rights.


water, and the salts in it, will become increasingly emotional in future elections.  in california, it's already here with the delta smelt and no water to the valley.  only people with wells will be able to grow anything or for some, just keep trees alive. get ready for food inflation which isn't used to gauge inflation.

 

[Telos]

Let mother nature decide on the outcome. Draining water wells is not a solution but another addition to a compounding problem.

I have to agree with Knabe about population control. The question is, who will control it?

 

[vc]

We are currently working on the sewer treatment plant in the Paso area, the out flow of treated water will be released into the river bed, adjacent to the plant, their intent is for it to feed the aquifer.
Not sure of the gallons a day they will produce, but I would think direct use might be more efficient.

 

[knabe]

90% or more of potable water is wasted on showers, toilets, lawns etc.


We could have two sources of water just like campers and boaters.


Higher quality filtering systems processing far fewer gallons could be deployed but it will never happen.

 

[knabe]

more pigs.  probably at least 60-70 of them.  one large boar about twice the size of these.

pic is at dusk so resolution is terrible from phone camera.

tags are $25/pig.  you can get a depredation permit.  almond hulls seem the perfect chum.

 

[vc]

Are you seeing more hog with the drought? We have them down here but not at those kind of numbers, well not yet.
Our terrain is a little harsher down here, do coyotes or cougar prey on hogs. I can go out a spot 6 to 10 coyotes at night with the spot light, but since I live in the Rabbit belt they are not a problem as yet.

What we are seeing is the Turkey, they put them in the mountain areas in 1993, they released 306 birds, last count in 2003 there were over 20,000. I think they even did better after the fires in 2003 and 2007. They have made it to most areas east of the 15. It is nothing to drive through the hills to the east and see 5 to 10 flocks of 20 to 30 birds or more in a morning. I will take the turkeys over the pigs any day.