Over eight inches of rain have fallen on our mid-Missouri pasture. Some of these inches came in one big event – 4.54 inches to be exact. Our soil is soaking it up, and we are grateful considering last year’s drought conditions.

Looking from our hilltop to the neighbor’s overstocked, grazed low, well compacted hilltop pasture, I see he is getting the same moisture, but it is noticeably running down to his creek and heading down stream. We make effort to avoid this type of pitfall by rotating our cattle, to avoid compaction, and leaving some forage behind which slows heavy rains down and allows time for it to sink in.