It’s been an unusually cool summer, and that’s great for our animals. Cows love this weather: cool nights and days that don’t get too hot. We recently installed new fans and ventilation systems in our freestall barns, and of course, we haven’t needed them too much this summer. But it’s important to have them for when the weather gets warmer and we need to be sure to keep our animals cool and comfortable.
Freestall barns keep cows cool and comfortable in summer
There’s a tradeoff to this mild weather, though, and that’s our crops, in particular the corn. Corn is an important crop for us and a key ingredient in the feed we give to our cows. Corn needs heat to mature, in fact we know just how much: 2200 to 2500 “growing degrees” in order for it to develop fully and create the starch that our animals need in their diets. Right now, we’re running about 150 degrees short of normal, which means that if we have an early frost, we could lose 25 to 30 percent of our yield.
A wet spring affected the roots of our corn crop
Our wet spring also had an effect on the corn. With the ground being so wet, the roots of the corn didn’t need to grow very deep. That can have an adverse affect later in the summer if we experience drier conditions.
As always, we can’t control Mother Nature and we don’t know what’s coming our way. The cooler conditions are advantageous for our cows, but not for our crops. All we can do is try our best to be prepared. That’s farming for you: tradeoffs, unpredictability and losing sleep some nights. Good thing we love what we do and wouldn’t have it any other way.
