In two week’s it will officially be winter. Not that it doesn’t already feel like it, today was absolutely freezing (well, almost – freezing plus four degrees C!) Anyway the problem with winter arriving already is that we’ve had virtually no autumn rain. The monthly average rainfall is 44mm for May, and about the same for April, yet we’ve had only 10mm total for the past 2 months. This means we’re approaching the coldest time of year – when the animals have the greatest calorific requirements – with virtually no feed for them in the paddocks.
In a last ditch effort, Ric has been planting a winter crop of oats. This is Ric on the tractor, using the seed drill (the yellow attachment on the back) to direct drill the oat seeds into the ground and apply fertilizer (super phosphate) at the same time.
The last time this paddock was planted out I was on drill duty – which I quite enjoyed. At least it was more successful that me on the plough – I think after the third time I bogged the tractor I was banned from ploughing again!
So anyway Ric made great progress today, getting most of the paddock planted out. Problem is, it may be too cold now for them to germinate. And if they do, the seedlings will need plenty of rainfall to keep them growing and going.
We can’t guarantee the rain – in fact the forecast doesn’t look good at all – but at least the seed is now in the ground now. All that’s left to do is cross our fingers and wish for rain…
