Ice Storm on the way, preparing (Photos)

[Ben H]

I've been playing with stockpiled grass this year and last, still have a few acres left. I was hoping to have the HT permiter fence done before moving the herd into this field, but they were ready before I was. So I used polywire, pig tails and a solar charger. All my posts are driven and I have half the wire and powerflex posts up as of yesterday, the frost isn't thick enough yet to prevent that.

There was an ice storm coming Thursday night so I prepared, I added additional pigtails so they are only 10-15' apart for the weight of the ice

I put a few round bales on the hill tops to keep them away from the fence

Moved the fence in the woods for some shelter

If you look close in the center of the picture, on the far edge of the field you may see the Gallagher solar charger I'm using

The next morning

Still sufficient voltage

Everyone's happy

How do you expect me to eat that?

This wasn't nearly as bad as our ice storm in '98, about 240,000 people without power with this one.

The ugly Shorthorns belong to a friend.

 

[Nicky]

Thanks for the tour, cattle look good. So how quickly will your ice melt? I'm surprised you still have that much green grass.

 

[Shortgrass]

Thanks for the pictures. I would like to see Maine someday. Maybe I could pick a warmer one w/o all the ice. Cattle look good--Where are the ugly ones?

 

[Ben H]

The ice should melt tomorrow, supposed to be a high of 51. The key to the green grass is the timing of of the last cut so it doesn't get over mature when the frost hits it. This was last cut in August I believe. Last winter I looked at one field I stockpiled a little, one I didn't rely on. I dug through snow up over my knees, this was probably February, and it was still green.

Any question on why I don't listen to the "you can't do that here" crowd?