The current wildfire burning near Ochoco National Forest is just one more reminder of the extended dry conditions much of the Northwest has endured throughout late summer and fall. While not unexpected, the dryness has definitely accelerated some management decisions here on the ranch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve just finished weaning here in mid-November, and we\u2019ve moved the ewes and lambs into a leader-follower rotation on our irrigated alfalfa. The weaned lambs are staying on the better paddocks to avoid a post-weaning setback, with the goal of finishing or marketing most of them before the New Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That said, with no meaningful precipitation since early September and no snowpack forming yet, we\u2019re seeing real signs of moisture stress\u2014even the alfalfa is thinning out, particularly in the older stands. While we\u2019re still hoping for a shift in the weather pattern, we\u2019ve learned the hard way that hope isn\u2019t a strategy.<\/strong> So we\u2019re planning under the assumption that this dry pattern will hold through early winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The current priority is maintaining the condition of the breeding ewes. Fortunately, they\u2019ve come through lambing and lactation in decent shape thanks to the fall regrowth we managed to hang onto. We were also able to put up a few hundred small bales during September’s dry stretch, which will be critical in providing basic maintenance feed if pasture quality continues to slide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We’ve started slow-grazing our native grass pastures\u2014mostly fescue and bluebunch wheatgrass\u2014some of which have already shut down for the season. Where we have sub-clover mixed in, it’s already buried seed and gone dormant. Those areas can be grazed hard now to clean them off and prep them for feed-out sites, especially if we do end up feeding hay through December and January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our younger lucerne (alfalfa) paddocks are showing more promise than the older stands. They\u2019ve held moisture better through the fall and will likely provide more feed in January, assuming we get even a hint of precipitation. The root systems in those new paddocks haven\u2019t hit the same depletion level yet, so we\u2019re treating them as a strategic reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for destocking, we’ve already moved out all the cull ewes, and the first group of weaned lambs have been sold to a finishing lot. If conditions don\u2019t improve by mid-December, we\u2019ll need to make a call on our store lambs\u2014either sell them as-is or begin an aggressive finishing program on the irrigated ground, depending on feed availability. We\u2019re also keeping a close eye on hay prices, which are already ticking upward across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll likely prioritize keeping our core breeding ewes and the best ewe lamb replacements. If we do need to destock further, it will be done with that long-term breeding program in mind. We\u2019re not just managing for this winter\u2014we\u2019re managing for 2026 and beyond.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, we\u2019re doing okay. We\u2019ve made the tough calls early, culled when we had the opportunity, and we\u2019re holding the best ground for those that need it most. But it\u2019s a tightrope. Every decision now is about balancing risk with resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll be sharing our strategy, the outcomes of our early-season choices, and what we\u2019re watching going into winter at a ranch management field day here in Harney County on Friday, December 13th at 1:00 p.m. We invite other producers dealing with similar dryland challenges to come out, share ideas, and have some honest conversation about the road ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The current wildfire burning near Ochoco National Forest is just one more reminder of the extended dry conditions much of the Northwest has endured throughout late summer and fall. While not unexpected, the dryness has definitely accelerated some management decisions here on the ranch. We\u2019ve just finished weaning here in mid-November, and we\u2019ve moved the ewes and lambs into a leader-follower rotation on our irrigated alfalfa. The weaned lambs are staying on the better paddocks to avoid a post-weaning setback, with the goal of finishing or marketing most of them before the New Year. That said, with no meaningful precipitation since early September and no snowpack forming yet, we\u2019re seeing real signs of moisture stress\u2014even the alfalfa is thinning out, particularly in the older stands. While we\u2019re still hoping for a shift in the weather pattern, we\u2019ve learned the hard way that hope isn\u2019t a strategy. So we\u2019re planning under the assumption that this dry pattern will hold through early winter. Prioritizing the Breeding Ewes The current priority is maintaining the condition of the breeding ewes. Fortunately, they\u2019ve come through lambing and lactation in decent shape thanks to the fall regrowth we managed to hang onto. We were also able to put up a few hundred small bales during September’s dry stretch, which will be critical in providing basic maintenance feed if pasture quality continues to slide. We’ve started slow-grazing our native grass pastures\u2014mostly fescue and bluebunch wheatgrass\u2014some of which have already shut down for the season. Where we have sub-clover mixed in, it’s already buried seed and gone dormant. Those areas can be grazed hard now to clean them off and prep them for feed-out sites, especially if we do end up feeding hay through December and January. Holding onto What Matters Our younger lucerne (alfalfa) paddocks are showing more promise than the older stands. They\u2019ve held moisture better through the fall and will likely provide more feed in January, assuming we get even a hint of precipitation. The root systems in those new paddocks haven\u2019t hit the same depletion level yet, so we\u2019re treating them as a strategic reserve. As for destocking, we’ve already moved out all the cull ewes, and the first group of weaned lambs have been sold to a finishing lot. If conditions don\u2019t improve by mid-December, we\u2019ll need to make a call on our store lambs\u2014either sell them as-is or begin an aggressive finishing program on the irrigated ground, depending on feed availability. We\u2019re also keeping a close eye on hay prices, which are already ticking upward across the region. We\u2019ll likely prioritize keeping our core breeding ewes and the best ewe lamb replacements. If we do need to destock further, it will be done with that long-term breeding program in mind. We\u2019re not just managing for this winter\u2014we\u2019re managing for 2026 and beyond. Looking Ahead Overall, we\u2019re doing okay. We\u2019ve made the tough calls early, culled when we had the opportunity, and we\u2019re holding the best ground for those that need it most. But it\u2019s a tightrope. Every decision now is about balancing risk with resilience. We\u2019ll be sharing our strategy, the outcomes of our early-season choices, and what we\u2019re watching going into winter at a ranch management field day here in Harney County on Friday, December 13th at 1:00 p.m. We invite other producers dealing with similar dryland challenges to come out, share ideas, and have some honest conversation about the road ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/rainboots.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20241129_143352EDIT.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rainboots.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rainboots.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rainboots.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rainboots.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rainboots.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rainboots.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":591,"href":"https:\/\/rainboots.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589\/revisions\/591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rainboots.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rainboots.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rainboots.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rainboots.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Prioritizing the Breeding Ewes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Holding onto What Matters<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Looking Ahead<\/h3>\n\n\n\n