Idealistically, farming is about working with nature to reap the blessings of her abundance. In reality, she is often an unwilling participant at best - and oftentimes a cantankerous bitch.  This past weekend we had to hunker down due to tornados all around us, and though we had only minor wind damage, the subsequent rains wreaked havoc in the form of flooding.

I disced up a few acres and planted seed the week before the storm in hopes that we would get rain and boy did we.  Six inches of rain fell here at the ranch in a short period of time, much of it concentrated in just a few hours, although bands of rain continued to fall through the night.  While the tornado force winds caused some damage, the 6 inches of rain rushing down hill caused even more damage,  scouring our pastures and washing away tons of topsoil.

We knew this area was problematic when we first moved in since the previous owner's efforts to remediate the erosion lay scattered in the gully below the washout.

When we first purchased the ranch I had the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) look the area over but they didn’t seem alarmed at the time.  It’s gotten much worse since then, and as this is a  primary thoroughfare for me to access half of the property I’m going to have to push harder for them to take action -  after all, soil is a natural resource. Hopefully we don't get another storm before I’m able to shore up the area and save what remains.