Around the Barn: Weather Forecasts and Seasonal Preparedness

The season's are changing! For those of us in Arizona, 100*+ temperatures are quickly approaching, and this is a great time to prep your barn for the upcoming season.

While there are some aspects of seasonal preparedness you undertake every year, in Arizona this typically means new fly masks, buying fly spray and maintaining your trees and shades, there are also other steps you may take based on the upcoming seasonal forecast.

What is a seasonal forecast? It's a handy tool published by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the spring and fall to let areas of the country know the broad strokes of what they can expect from the upcoming season. It's so invaluable to farmers and livestock owners, that the Farmer's Almanac typically publishes a version as well. These seasonal forecasts will let you know if your area is forecasted to experience higher or lower than normal temperatures, or higher or lower than normal levels of precipitation. This allows you as a livestock owner to get ahead of these trends and prepare your property, supplies, and animal for the upcoming season.

Let's take a look at the recently released NWS precipitation forecast map for the United States for summer 2025:

As you can see, Arizona is forecasted to have "leaning above" to "above" typical precipitation levels, aka big monsoons. Similarly, the east coast is expected to have higher than normal precipitation, while the northern part of the country (excluding Alaska) will have dry conditions.

What does all this mean for you, a livestock owner?

For those in higher precipitation areas:

• Vaccinations: higher moisture means more biting insects- flies, ticks, and mosquitos all thrive in damp-to-wet environments, which means they are more likely to transmit diseases like West Nile Virus, equine encephalitis, and more. Be sure your animals are fully vaccinated, sooner rather than later (mosquitoes are already out in large numbers in southern Arizona)

• Drainage: any changes you need to make to improve drainage on your property should be done now, before the rains come and make everything wet, heavy, sloppy, and a breeding ground for pests and thrush-causing bacteria.

  • One of the most important aspects of drainage is manure removal. If you need to, now is the time to scrape your pens down to clean soil, then ensure you're picking up and removing manure (not just breaking up and spreading) every day to assist in drainage.

  • Grading is essential to ensure water is running off and away from your animal's pens. Now is the time to build up any low spots with additional substrate or gravel, and scrape down any inefficient high spots that keep water from diverting away from your animals.

  • Clear washes, culverts, and diversion areas. Debris, plant matter, and dirt can accumulate and block your diversion structures, make sure they're clear of impediments before the rain starts falling.

• Shelter: Assess and inspect your animals' shelters. Do they have plenty of shade? Do they have plenty of shelter? Your animals will need ample shade, with lots of air movement, during those hot, sunny summer days, and plenty of dry areas during storms. Ensure each animal has room to comfortably exist within their various structures by making sure they are

  • High enough for your animals. Animals should be able to comfortably stand under the shelter with their head high and ears up (for instance if something catches their attention in the distance) without their ears touching the top of the structure. For minis this will generally be at least 5 feet high, and for standards it will be about 7 feet high. Mammoths, of course, being horse-sized, should have shades made for full sized horses. Generally higher is better, up to around 10-12 feet. This allows room for the animals to comfortably stand, with no risk of hitting their heads, allows for you to comfortably clean the area without stooping, and allows ample air flow. We all know those monsoon days can be quite steamy, and your animals will appreciate the breeze. A shade cloth tied on the top of a 5' panel, that a standard has to duck to walk under, is not sufficient shade or shelter.

  • Large enough for your animals. All of your animals should be able to comfortably stand under the shelter, with enough room for them to move about to access feed and water without anyone having to be kicked out into the rain. If you have a herd where one (or more) animal(s) tend to guard resources, you should have multiple shelters to prevent anyone being kicked out in the rain.

  • Dry. While trees or shade cloth offer some shelter from the rain, solid roofs do a much better job. Also be sure your grade is such that the ground stays relatively dry in your shelter. If your shelter is built where water pools, your animals are risking hoof problems by standing beneath it.

• Pests: Moisture = pests. Flies, mosquitos, ticks, rodents. Rain brings out the pests and with them come disease. Start early and start aggressively with your pest management.

  • Fly masks, boots, and sheets: be sure yours are in good repair and clean, and order extras for when your animals wear theirs out. We all know how much damage flies can do to a sensitive animal in just a day or two.

  • Deploy your fly predators and fly traps early. The sooner you start removing flies from the breeding population, the better you will be as summer moves forward.

  • Stock up on fly spray, buy your fans, and your feed through fly prevention if that is your preferred prevention method.

  • Remove all possible standing water on your property including tires, plastic tarps, old flower pots, anywhere there could be standing water you don't cycle through.

  • Dump and scrub water buckets and troughs every 3-4 days to prevent mosquito larva from maturing.

  • Contact Game and Fish for mosquito fish if you have a pond or other standing water. These minnows are free and consume mosquito larvae and one of their main food sources.

  • Remove brush where possible to minimize habitat for ticks

  • Secure all feed and food sources in rodent proof containers such as metal trash cans or Vittle Vaults to prevent rodent infestations.

• Hay: Whether you store your hay inside or out, be sure it is kept dry and off the ground. Moisture in hay can cause mold or even botulism, which can be very dangerous or even deadly for your animals, as well as causing spontaneous combustion under certain conditions. Keep your feed investment safe, keep your hay dry.

For those in lower precipitation areas:

• Hay purchase and storage: with less rain hay may become more expensive in your area, as pasture quality suffers, and more livestock owners have to purchase hay, and farmers aren't able to produce as much. Keep this in mind to budget, purchase, and store accordingly.

• Fire risk: clear brush and other fuel sources away from your barns, home, and animals

• Evacuation plan: practice loading your animals, make evacuation plans, keep all of your animals up to date on vaccinations and Coggins (for congregating at evacuation shelters), consider microchipping your animals, and make further relevant evacuation plans.

All of this may seem like a lot to consider, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure; it's much better to flush culverts now, than in deluge rain while the water rises and threatens to breech the threshold into your feed room and ruin all your hay.

Don't forget, the NWS will release these forecasts for the winter, as well, to let you know how much hay to buy, and whether or not the weight of blankets you currently own will be sufficient.

Now get out there, and prep for summer!