Farming, Saturday, August 16,1966
Carolina Jersey Breeder Tells About Drought
(Continued from Paso Al)
Harrises’ 375 acre dairy farm is
located In Iredale County, N.C.,
right in the heart of the worst
drought to hit the south in a cen
tury.
The area has received almost 3”
of rain in the past week and the
ground is still soaking it up like a
sponge. Local well drillers report a
5’ drop in the underground water
table. Local estimates are that it
will take at least two years for
those tables to be replenished.
With the rain the Harrises’ hay
fields have grown a green mask. It
is as if they are trying to cover the
scars inflicted on them by the nine
month drought and scorching
temperatures that have been in the
90’s since March. Gene hopes to get
one more cutting of hay off before
plowing some of the most badly
damaged stands under.
Their hay fields which normally
yield the Harrises up to 12,000
bales annually, have produced
only 3,500 bales this year. Gene
added that they also baled their
small grains for hay when they
failed to form any „ grains in the
heads. Bill Harris is making trips
through Kentucky, Illinois, In
diana, and Ohio to try to procure
the 5,000 bales of hay the brothers
are sure they’ll need to buy to hold
them through till next spring.
In an effort to grow more
forages, the Harrises recently
seeded 24 acres with sorghum and
sudan grass. Gene relates that
such seedings in August are
unheard of in this part of the
country, but they’re hoping with
the new moisture in the ground,
they may still get two cuttings off
this before frost. By feeding this
and wet brewers grain, the
Harrises hope to extend their
silage stores.
The Harrises have two trench
silos which each hold 6,700 tons of
silage. One has about a 6-0 week
supply of old silage still in it. The
others contain their entire corn
crop, which yielded 5 tons to the
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acre. This trench is about 90
percent full. The new silage can’t
be feed for 6-8 weeks because of its
high nitrate content caused by the
dry weather.
Gene stresses that the drought
has caused several management
problems for them, radical
changes in some people’s feed
programs, and even erratic
growing patterns for even the
trees. The Harrises fear that their
herta may suffer reproductive
problems for the next 12-24 mon
ths, so they are pushing extra
minerals to the cows and balancing
their rations more often.
Local farmers are feeding
anything they can put through a
baler. Gene reports that some
farmers cut their 2” corn with a
haybine and baled it into large
round bales to feed like hay. The
local auction which normally
markets 1,500 of cattle a week is
now selling 3,500-4,200 weekly.
Gene’s wife Barbara relates that
she didn’t harvest enough green
beans from their large garden for
even one meal. The trees have
already begun to drop their leaves.
With the need so apparently
great, how do the Harrises feel
about the efforts of farmers
elsewhere to donate and deliver
hay to the south?
Stated Gene, “We’re really
appreciative of the generousity of
otter farmers to do this, but this
thing has become a political
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ballgame with each governor and
agriculture secretary trying to get
the most publicity. Where will
these people be after election
day?”
“Iredale County has more dairy
farms and beef farms than any
other county in North Carolina and
we haven’t seen a bale of free hay
yet. Besides, the restrictions say
you can’t have more than a 25 day
North Carolina dairyman Gene Harris views his 130 head Jersey milking string. Due to
poor conception in the heat, the Harrises run a bull with the herd from June to Sep
tember. They fear the reproduction of their herd may be damaged from the long
drought.
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supply of feed stored on your farm
to qualify for any of this hay. If you
have a dairy and not more feed
than that, what good is 50 bales of
hay going to do you?”
“The ones we’ve seen getting
this hay should be left fall by the
wayside. I know that sounds cruel,
but you could feed them for 2-3
years and they still couldn’t make
it. They’re just not good managers.
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The other people getting this hay
are people with off the farm jobs
who have made no effort to plan for
winter feeding."
“If people want to donate
fine, but they should have some
idea of where it is going. It might
be best to earmark donated money
for transportation costs. What I’d
like to see done is to have each
farm’s needs analyzed. If you’re
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