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We have a small ranch between Fredericksburg and Junction in the hill country and we have only had about 4.5" of rain all year. We raise blackbuck antelope to sell to other ranches and there is zero grass for the critters to eat - we are going through 1500 pounds of feed per month. Hay is getting harder to find and the price keeps going up. Some of our rancher friends are selling their animals since it is too expensive to feed them.

We had dreams of making a little money on our herd but that won't happen for a long time. The hole keeps getting dug a little deeper each day we have no rain. Please dear Lord send us abundant rain.

Been praying for it every day

Yep, me too.

We have neighbors that are losing their waterwells. The waterwell drillers are getting busy. We keep praying for rain and that our well holds out.

Thanks guys

I am praying for it also.

From what we've been told, there's nothing left of our yard in the Pineywoods to feed 'em on. Please let it rain and turn cold.

I have been praying for it also. I may try washing my car to see if that makes it rain.

I don't even mind the heat anymore, we just need lots of rain, and not all at once.

I haven't been regularly but thank you for the sobering reminder, I shall begin to daily. A lot of folks, admittedly, myself included at times, only see what it does to our yards and fail to realize the amount of damage the lack of rain is doing to our agriculture. God bless you.

steve817 wrote:I have been praying for it also. I may try washing my car to see if that makes it rain.

I already tried that. My wife even got my car detailed for me. If that isn't inviting Noah's flood, I don't know what is. It did rain 2 days later, for an hour or less. Then it just got real humid and hot after that. Even so, please let it rain, Lord.

Thanks again guys!

I recently washed the truck and our little ranch truckette (a Japanese mini-truck) and no joy so far. Guess I should do the tractor next.

Looks like tomorrow I need to make a run to the feed store and buy more alfalfa

I have been praying for rain for sometime now. Every trip into town I see trailers full of livestock that I know the ranchers are selling at a loss. Hay/feed costs are skyrocketing and the ranchers are having to buy water as the stock ponds are dry. I have seen acre after acre of what was once corn crops wasted away in the fields. Today marked the 70th day of temperatures at or exceeding 100 degrees this year. With the exception of Aug 13th, it has been in the triple digits since June 30th. Just maybe Irene will take more of a westerly track than predicted.

I believe every prayer is answered: Yes, no, or not now.

I hoped Irene would head to the Gulf Coast but it looks like it's going up the East Coast. Sometimes I wonder if the Texas drought is a divine response to Houston's new rain tax. If so, I pray The Merciful Father will grant rain to those who voted against the tax and those outside Houston.

Still praying! Some relief from the heat in SE Texas would be great - need some cooler evening temps to offer some relief from the oven like days. This is compounded by the dead/dormant ground cover thus losing their evaporative cooling powers. I feel bad for the critters wild and otherwise - there is just no respite.

i8godzilla wrote:I have been praying for rain for sometime now. Every trip into town I see trailers full of livestock that I know the ranchers are selling at a loss. Hay/feed costs are skyrocketing and the ranchers are having to buy water as the stock ponds are dry. I have seen acre after acre of what was once corn crops wasted away in the fields. Today marked the 70th day of temperatures at or exceeding 100 degrees this year. With the exception of Aug 13th, it has been in the triple digits since June 30th. Just maybe Irene will take more of a westerly track than predicted.

I believe every prayer is answered: Yes, no, or not now.

A friend of mine has a 92 acre pecan orchard a few miles east of Elgin. His ponds are dry. He is watering those trees that he can from well water, but his trees are dying. His eyes get moist when he talks about it. He loves his trees, and it breaks my heart to hear him talk about it.