Monitoring Irrigation
#bfrdpwy #aginternship #RightRisk
Another week has flashed by in a whirlwind of prepping, planning and projects. Monday started with having one of our pregnant mares foal; we added a small fenced area for Concha, the mare, and her colt. After that was done, I spent some time working on finishing irrigation in one of our best hay pastures and preparing dams in the two dry pastures that we hadn’t had water in for a while. Tuesday and Wednesday went on with more irrigating while also planning to pull back on water in order to prep for haying that will hopefully take place within the next two weeks. I also spent some time fixing a fence to prepare one of our pastures to hold horses. Thursday was a day filled with strong rain, morning and night irrigation, as well as spending time fixing a few leaking water gates. With the changing water levels, we were pulling some short term dams to accommodate the weather and running errands with a few of the wranglers that needed equipment for the season. Friday and Saturday were occupied with going through with plans from the beginning of the week to turn water levels off in order to begin the drying process in all of our irrigated pastures
During portions of the week, we were spending much of our days trying to figure out who would be best stationed doing certain jobs and for how long. This led to a few cases of miscommunication and crossed wires when it came to getting certain tasks started but not finished, or having a certain number of wranglers designated, only after periods of time had passed. To me, this seemed like a collective waste of time due to lack of planning and not having everyone on the same page. Even with everything that needs to be happening all at once in different areas and contexts around the ranch, there was still a lot of confusion and order lost to lack of planning. My idea to alleviate this issue recurring would be to designate an hour, or two, every night to make a detailed plan for everyone. Everyone available, or designated to help, would receive the plan the night before to allow for any changes to be addressed and missing details pinned down prior to beginning the projects.
A few of the questions I still have mainly pertain to the haying and recycle of irrigation process, weed free crops, and permit handling. My biggest question, especially with how much time and effort I have seen and put into helping to grow in many of the pastures here is, how are the soil handles right after haying? Is there a systemic outlook or process to if certain pastures should be left alone and not reseeded to give that area time to bounce back or dry even further? Also, when it comes to weed free crops and the strict regulations for receiving that certification, what is done when some or all of our crops don’t meet that criteria? What is the best way to sell hay that isn’t certified and then use that profit to buy weed free an option that’s utilized here? I have also been curious about how much of a toll the yearly permits and fees take on the overall business. What and how many regulations, costs, legalities and impressions need to be maintained, updated and expressed crucially throughout to all seasonal staff?
Moving forward, I fully intend to get a more comprehensive review of all I’ve learned, especially with having to teach and inform newcomers about the way we do things here and beginning to implement the team environment strongly. I plan to keep a close eye on our drying pastures and making sure we have a plan for where to hay first and go from there, while also factoring in and being able to adjust plans depending on weather. I also believe that trying to separate more time when possible to talk with Jim, Mary, or Jessie, so I can get more of a well rounded perspective on the business as a whole from different operating views.
Submitted by: Olivia Halter
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team
