Chockalog Farm - Help Feed Cattle Through Drought

2020 has been a rough year.  We are in an EXTREME drought which has severely affected our grazing practices with our cattle.  We usually move them through our pastures daily and feed them hay grown on our leased fields in the winter.  But this year, the grazing had to stop at the beginning of August because the grass didn’t have any rain to grow back.  The cattle were put in a nice sheltered spot and we started using our winter supply of hay.  We figured it wouldn’t be long....but the rain never came!  We lost 4 months of grazing!  We also lost our whole second cut of hay!  All our winter supply of hay will be gone by the time winter weather comes.  


We don’t want to sell off our herd.  We have worked so hard in our breeding program to get the great genetics we have now!  To sell, we would have to send them to an auction.  The price we would be paid would be very low.  The cattle would also undergo an awful ordeal going through an auction house!  We always want to take the best care possible of our cattle.  I can’t stand the thought of turning them over to who knows what kind of conditions!

To be able to keep them, we will have to source more than an entire winter’s worth of hay.  It will take 90 round bales to make up for what was lost and get us through cold weather.  This comes at a cost of $5,400!  And we need to find these resources as soon as possible before hay sells out and/or goes up in price.  We have arranged for delivery of 65 of the 90 that we need and will possibly need to source the rest as square bales, which will likely cost more.  

I know many of you are aware of how hard it is for farms financially even when things go well.  This is a hard hit for the farm.  It makes it very hard for us to continue with projects we have planned to better serve our customers.  There are exciting things to come but we desperately need your help to keep on track!  

Please, if you value what we do, value the great care we take of our animals, our land, our community, and our environment........please consider helping us out.  I have dedicated all my time, my thoughts, my worries, my hard work, my blood, sweat, and tears, as well as that of my family’s to this farm....to providing healthy, regenerative products for the community while healing the land.  I’m hoping the community will be there for us.  Please help us get through this difficult time.  Thank you so much for any assistance you can give!

Wenona