As some readers may know, I put out a quarterly newsletter (The New Foothill Rancher in Placer and Nevada Counties; The New Ranch Update in Sutter and Yuba Counties). Once a newsletter is out, I start compiling topics for the next one - but sometimes issues and opportunities arise that can't wait another 3 months! This is one of those times!
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Grazing Lease Opportunity
CDFW is seeking bids for grazing cattle on approximately 1500 acres of its Quail Valley Unit in Yuba County. Bids are due by November 19, 2018; there is a mandatory pre-bid tour of the property on November 7 at 2:30 p.m. For more information, contact Gail Turner at gail.turner@wildlife.ca.gov or 916/358-1075. For more information, check the California eProcure website.
IRM "Red Books" Available
I have a limited supply of 2019 IRM Red Books available for ranchers! These pocket-size books are a great tool for beef producers to use in tracking everything from pasture use to calving records to vaccination information. They also include a 2019 calendar. Contact me at dmacon@ucanr.edu to get yours! These will be available on a first-come-first-served basis.
The Dreaded "D" Word...
Drought, that is.... Here in Auburn, we measured close to 1.5 inches of rain in the first week of October - enough to get our grass started. Other locations in my four county region got far less rain - the Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center, for example, measured just 0.14 inches this month. Even with the rain in the Auburn area, the dry weather and north wind we've experienced since the first week of October have taken their toll on the grass - I'm starting to see the newly germinated annual grasses wither, suggesting this first germination was a false start.
It's too soon to use the "D" word in our region, but other parts of the state are even drier than we are. And grass growth, obviously, is not the only impact. Much of the annual rangeland in the foothills is grazable only if livestock have access to water. At this point of the fall, many of our stock ponds and intermittent streams have dried up.
The latest California drought map shows that the western half of Placer and Nevada Counties, as well as all of Sutter and Yuba Counties, are "abnormally dry." These maps are generated each week - and those of us who live and ranch in these areas can improve the accuracy of drought maps. You can enter your observations (like lack of germination, dry stock ponds, etc.) in the Drought Impacts Reporter.
For more general information about drought, be sure to check out the Drought Information Hub on the UC Rangelands website!