Row crop producers have completed the grain sorghum and corn harvest in Central Texas. Yields were well below the county averages but there were pockets of grain that did offer favorable yields.  

One thing you might have noticed is that nearly all corn and grain sorghum fields are being baled for hay. Harvesting corn fodder for hay is hard on equipment and the nutritive value of this hay is low, but with current hay prices being three times what they would normally be, if cows will eat it, bale it.

Many producers are cutting milo stalks for hay as well and that is a cheaper buy. Many farmers had not cut the grain off the milo fields and people were asking for the stalks.

These farmers have had waiting lists for people who are interested in buying the milo stalk hay. Fair market value for hay is one thing, but there are people who will take advantage of the misfortune of others to make a profit.

There are a low number of corn stocks to carry over into the next year and corn prices remain favorable. If our cotton crops don’t receive some precipitation soon, the expected yield will drop considerably.

There is a reason to be concerned with prussic acid poisoning in Sudans, Johnson grass and any other sorghum-type grass. There is a threat of prussic acid poisoning if you graze these grasses.

But if you cut it for hay and allow for a normal drying period, the prussic acid will dissipate to a level that is not harmful.

Nitrates in corn and grain sorghum are a different threat and should not be taken lightly. When we have little rain, the plants take nitrogen up into the plant tissue and the nitrogen stacks up in the lower parts of the plant because there was not enough rain to allow for the nitrogen to be translocated through the plant tissue.

Because nitrogen is highly concentrated in the lower parts of corn and grain sorghum, it can be very fatal to livestock that consume it. Only a test at laboratories will give you the green light to feed it.

Action at livestock auctions

Large numbers of cows still are being sold at livestock auctions. The slaughter price is holding steady and only time will tell how long the market glut will hold a desirable price.

The lack of forage and the unseasonally high cost of hay has led many producers to sell out.

A bigger problem now is stock tanks becoming dry.

Where my father farms in West Texas, north of Abilene, all the stock tanks are dry and have been. You can’t rent or find dirt-moving equipment because of everyone cleaning out tanks and making deep tanks “deeper.”

We are starting to see the same thing occur in Central Texas, where the shallow tanks are already dry and the good 20-foot deep stock tanks are nearly dry.

The majority of cattlemen in Central Texas are not as accustomed to hauling water for stock as their West Texan colleagues.

As mentioned before, if you can hang on to your cows and when it starts to rain, I foresee cattle prices escalating, especially calf prices because most of the cows are being sold right now. Where will the 2012 calf crop come from if all the cows went to slaughter?

Conserving water

Surprisingly, I am still receiving calls about lawns and gardens. With the record-setting number of days of more than 100 degrees continues to grow, people have to be putting out a considerable amount of water to keep a lawn green.

I have to wonder when is enough enough and people start conserving water to put on trees to save them and conserve the rest for our drinking water.

As our drought continues, you will see lawns drying up and dying. If you are not watering, you don’t have a lawn problem because the grass is now dormant or wilted to a point that only Mother Nature and a long good soaking are the only things that will help it recover.

Rain dances are encouraged.

Shane McLellan, a county extension agent for more than 13 years, serves as the agriculture agent for McLennan County. Send email correspondence to s-mclellan@tamu.edu.