any impact information is very helpful in delineating areas of abnormally dry conditions or drought on the U.S. Drought Monitor. Based on what I’m seeing, I’ll usually call or email county agents directly to ask about dry spots across the state; if you have information and haven’t heard from me, please feel free to contact me at matt.dixon@uky.edu. The more information, the better! A Kentucky drought impact reporter is being developed by scientists with the Kentucky Division of Water to make this process easier and more convenient. Be on the lookout for updates as this becomes available.
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/fsa/Home.aspx. The good news is that droughts don’t usually last long in Kentucky, but that doesn’t mean we can’t prepare for them. While infrequent, we have hit the Exceptional Drought category twice in Kentucky since 2000, in 2007-08 and in 2012. The publication “Drought Risk Management for Beef Cattle Farms” (http://www2.ca.uky. edu/agcomm/pubs/AEN/AEN130/AEN130. pdf) lays out a systems-management approach to prepare for drought and help minimize risk. Eight principles of drought preparedness are discussed, ranging from rotational grazing to the selection of drought resistant stock.
Activating Assistance Programs
Better than Mud and Rain?
Why are updates to the Drought Monitor so important? If conditions get bad enough, the U.S. Drought Monitor will be used by the USDA to activate disaster declarations and associated assistance programs. One of those assistance programs includes the FSA Livestock Forage Program (LFP), https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Assets/ USDA-FSA-Public/usdafiles/FactSheets/2019/ livestock_forage_disaster_program-fact_ sheet_july-2019.pdf. An example from the LFP fact sheet linked above: “D2 (severe drought) intensity in any area of the county for at least eight consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period is eligible to receive assistance in an amount equal to one monthly payment.” To help determine eligibility for this program, the U.S. Drought Monitor has developed a tool,
Sometimes I have to be reminded that drought isn’t always bad news. I was recently on a call discussing the agricultural impacts from the dry weather and one of the farmers reminded me that during the past two years, both the fall and winter seasons were extremely wet. Looking back at the data, September 2018 through March 2019 was the wettest September through March period going back to 1895! Cattle were under a tremendous amount of stress from the unrelenting rainfall and associated muddy conditions. As the producer mentioned to me, maybe we’re just not getting a headstart this year!
How Much Grain Do You Have Stored?
compress when pressure is applied to them during filling. The material at the bottom of a storage bin will be compressed by the weight of the material above it, and this packing effect increases the capacity. Test weight, moisture content, bin dimensions, broken grain and foreign material, and other variables will change the packing value of stored grain.
By Mike Montross, Ph.D., P.E. BAE Department Chair and Professor Food and Bioprocess Engineering Grain handlers, processors, and farmers are frequently required to determine the inventory of corn, soybeans, wheat, and other products in various sized storage structures. This task is complex because granular products
Matt Dixon is a meteorologist in the Ag Weather Center.
Estimating the Bushels in a Bin The spreadsheet and instruction manual (example farm in PowerPoint) will allow for a
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
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