No Rain In Weeks! Why Drought can Be Good for Farms, Gardens and Lawns!

folks it's a hot hot summertime we're watering grass we're going to talk to you about how to save your pastures and about why the dry times are super important for your farm for your pastures for your garden and for your lawn all right Farm fans welcome back to the Stony Ridge Farm Channel be sure you're subscribed you're going to miss out on something we're out here on 150 acre first generation farm and I'm here to talk to you about the dry times this is the most worrisome time of year for anybody who is farming or ranching or growing a garden or trying to keep a green lawn this is the most horrible time of the year it is hot it is mid to late June all the way through July and we're here in North Carolina and we always have a hot spill a hot spell like we're having right now where temperatures are between 85 and 100° fah the grass is getting dry the grass is getting crunchy the grass looks like it's gone into sence meaning that it's not growing but what it's doing down below ground is something that's super important and this is why dry weather is super important for your forage or for your lawn and or your garden what happens is the top layer of soil in other words probably the top five to 6 Ines and you guys have all seen this when you look out across Barron land and this is newly sewn land right here but you look out across bar land or land with grass and you see cracks in the soil and those cracks can be anywhere from 2 3 in wide to just little tiny cracks in the soil what that's doing is telling you the soil surface is dry but deep down in the soil it's not dry so what we're trying to accomplish in the summertime in the summer heat in which your grass and forage and pastures are trying to accomplish is setting Down Deeper Roots which is helping to break that hard pan and let me explain that to you your grass in the springtime on any Farm or on any lawn or anywhere your grass your garden all that stuff vigorously grows it really vigorously grows why is it growing that vigorously because down in the soil in the first four to 6 Ines is moisture and that root system is spreading out spreading out spreading out all in the ground right there right on the surface of the ground now what's happened when those roots are starving for water what do they do they're no longer spreading out on the ground right they're going deeper and that's why dry times are super important for your pastures and for your Gardens you're driving down the root system into your soil thus loosening your soil and providing more biomass down in your soil so let's think about this from a clover standpoint Clover is known to fix nitrogen Clover gets little nodules on it and those nodules pull nitrogen from the air into the soil if the roots of the Clover are only this deep then they're only feeding this much of your soil if we have dry times like we have right now that Fescue that wild grasses all those different grasses that you have that are out there on your property are trying to struggle to get down deeper into the soil and what's that doing pushing Roots down building root systems and building your soil and making better quality forage now what does this mean what happens when it rains do you guys see when we have a very dry spell in the summertime and we have this everywhere Wyoming Idaho Utah it doesn't matter if you're in Indiana it doesn't matter where you are right here in North Carolina Southwest Virginia you're going to have dry times every single year and you need to know that if you've got animals you're probably going to have to feed a little bit of hay you're going to have to stretch the time out between grazing periods and it's very very important to not overg graze Andor if we're talking about your lawn to over prune in other words grazing is pruning and clipping your yard is pruning and mowing your pastures is pruning you want to keep at least five Ines 5 to six Ines of good quality Forge or good quality lawn up you want to keep those solar panels up that sun is still feeding that plant and that plant needs that sunlight to drive those root systems into the ground so here's what I do do when it comes to the hot hot summertime which it is right now today's high temperature is going to be about 94° here's what we do we don't move the cows on to New Pasture every single time we choose a point in our farm that the cows have plenty of shade plenty of access to water and we simply sacrifice it we simply overg graze it and we sacrifice it when we overg graze it we are stunting the growth of that Gra grass also when we overg graze it we are stunting the root system of that grass so you've got to think about that now I have the cattle the animals that I have now on about a 15 acre section of property over here and it is My Sacrifice I'm rolling out three bales of hay to 50 cows every single day and I'm feeding the land with that hay and feeding the land with the manure and the urine from the cattle but you got to think about this guys leave those pastures alone the tendency would be to put your animals in a larger Paddock and let them graze it all down to the nub where it's about that high you need that little solar panel to help stimulate that root growth to help push those roots down deeper in the soil and to help build your soil so I'm here to tell you that if you don't overg graze if you don't cut your yard too low then what this dry spell is going to do is help your lawn or help your pastures or help your garden to thrive by driving down the root system I don't know if any of you guys have ever thought about this in this manner but the dry times are just as important as the wet times right now my farm is working for me my pastures are working for me and if I overg graze them I take the cows out and I graze it down to the nub it's going to ruin it so I stall the cattle and when I stall the cattle in one spot a sacrifice spot they won't be back for at least 45 days that time between grazing will give it recovery time if you overstimulate your entire Farm you will be struggling all the way through September to keep your grass growing green and the same goes with your lawn so let it grow let that sunlight hit that grass mow it a little higher than you usually would don't overg graze and remember hot times are super important for building quality Forge or building a quality lawn or building a quality Garden you've got to stress that plant out enough to where it starts sending down roots and trying to build that Soil Breaking that hard pan and when it does rain you'll hear the grass you'll go outside and you'll just hear it going just trying to grow guys I hope this little video helped you I know you're probably watching this because you're super struggling with really dry times right now it's hot it's dry it does this every summer and there's a reason behind it it sends down roots deeper and deeper into the soil so that you establish a better root system and a better plant and in the fall when the wet season comes in your land will pay you dividends Way Beyond what you ever thought don't overg graze it don't clip your lawn Too Short don't overwater your garden let it work you're stimulating root growth that's what we're doing right now and in the fall when the ground gets wet again it will get wet deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper guys and it will help break up soil compaction and send those roots down deeper and you'll have better quality Forge and a better lawn and or a better Garden on your property thank you guys so much for watching today I don't know if you've ever thought about this this is what I think about when I'm sitting in my house bored wondering man I've got to get these cows moved there's a whole lot of grass over here but it's not growing it's crunchy it's dry let it rest don't bother it and let those roots do what they're supposed to do get down and break up that hard pan reduce soil compaction and grow better forage next year thank you guys so much hit that like button we' love to see you back here on the Stony Ridge Farm with me all right take care beautiful day and we're watering this here on your property this here oh her he couldn't get enough water di under dehydration I'm going to get an air conditioner and put in one of these windows today it's getting hot in there so I am not in there