There's More to a Neanderthal Than Just Good Looks

If you heat your house with wood, start stocking up now.  If you have livestock or other animals outside I recommend you put in a frostless hydrant.  These hydrants don't freeze like normal hydrants and are built to withstand frigid temps so you'll have an ample supply of water for your critters.  

Take a look at whether you need to have some more insulation in your home around doors and windows or any other place that needs it. 

For some months now I've had the feeling we're going to be in for a very cold winter which isn't normal for my area.  Last winter we had a cold snap with 20 deg. and colder for maybe three weeks but this year it sounds like we're in for some bitter cold that's going to be hanging around for awhile.   

My feelings were confirmed when I read the Old Farmers Almanac that in my area we're in for bitter cold which points to a miserable winter for animals, birds and humans.

Forewarned is to take the steps necessary and make the preparations in order to protect yourself and   those you care for and love.      

This feeling started after the beginning of this year's haying season when acreage that normally yielded 200 round bales only produced 27.
 
This year the rain fell at the wrong time, it didn't rain when it was supposed to and when it did rain it virtually drowned everything.  Plus, it was blistering hot with high humidity so the grass didn't grow the way it should.   

For livestock producers and those custom baling hay, the yields this year are way way down.

One bale of grass hay weighing approx. 800# is going for $70.00 and that was the price last week.  Normally you could buy a bale for a lot less so for the livestock producers with 100 head or more or even those producers with 30, 40 head if they didn't have a surplus of hay on hand they either sold the majority of their cows already or will have to pay a hefty price for forage.  And a cow needs more than hay when it's bitter cold in order to get through the winter.  And to make matters more difficult, cows generally calve in February and March.  It takes a lot of energy food (grain) also to keep an animal with enough body heat to sustain an abnormally cold winter and bring forth a healthy baby.   

It takes one bale of hay per cow per winter and if the winter is extreme, the animal is going to need more hay.   

If one bale weighs 800# (which is approx. a 4x5 bale of grass hay) and you need a ton of hay that would be 2-1/2 bales @ $180.00 a ton. 

You can't feed many animals on just one ton of hay.

The garden and orchard didn't do well this year either.  Too much rain, too little rain, too hot, too humid.

So, I'm passing this info on to you.  Wherever you are start looking at what winter holds for you and start making preparations.  

There's a little piece of Neanderthal in all of us.

It's called Survival.  
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