Happy New Water Year

Well I guess it is actually New Years Eve of the Water Year.  October 1st marks the start of a new water year.  As grass growth slows down and becomes dormant over the next few months, the moisture we have in the soil now and what we get over the winter will greatly influence what kind of grass growth we can expect next spring and early summer.

With that said, our area has very good soil moisture at the beginning of the 2015 water year.  Below is a map of the 48 states showing the actual rainfall from September 1 to September 29 COMPARED to the 30 year average (1981 to 2010).

Our farm is located in an area that has received around 150% of the rainfall we would receive compared to the 30 year average.  When I downloaded this image on September 30th, we were getting another good shower, over an inch total for the day.  Grass needs moisture and sun for growth.  We are always sure of the sun light, moisture is more variable.  One always needs to be an optimist to farm/ranch.  At this point things are looking good for being a perennial vegetation (grass/forb) farmer going into 2015 based on where we are starting the 2015 water year.

Source of information: http://prism.oregonstate.edu/

For current weather information that includes long-term average data in an easy to view format try: http://weatherspark.com/