Hard Decisions

One thing I really hate about the continued drought is the decisions it requires and when it requires them. I just finished kicking the pairs out in the hills today. Normally I would kick out everything that has yet to calve also and just keep the dries and stuff that lost calves in. The dries and others that have no calves would normally stay on grass until the first of June and then they would get shipped to market. Well being as we missed the last rain and it is bone dry out there, hard decisions are required.<br />n<!–more–><br />nA semi load of cows that have no calves on them are going to town tomorrow afternoon so as to be on Wednesday morning's market. I hate to do it. I have about 60 head, at this time, with no calves on them. There are about 30 of them that are still going to calve yet this spring. I will ship the semi load out, 45-50 head, and hold the others for a couple of weeks to see what happens. I can't justify holding on to this stuff as dry as it is and no significant moisture in the forecast. Hopefully I have enough grass for everything I turned out. There is some old grass out there from last year and that might make the difference.<br />n<br />nAwful early to be shipping cows out due to weather concerns but I don't know that I can wait. I know some guys are delaying on a decision, hoping that it starts to rain. I don't feel that I can safely wait. If they are standing around and eating grass, I might not have enough to get through the year. If I sell them then it starts to rain I am cutting into the size of my herd and hurting my production. Hard decisions. Then the next hard decision is going to be what to do if I get no hay crop so I have winter feed. Well at least that can wait a couple of weeks to see what happens. I'M TIRED OF THIS DROUGHT.<br />n<br />n<b>A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided. Anthony Robbins</b>