Jim Gates, Nevada County rancher

We had one real good rain, and we’ve got grass 2 inches tall right now, nearly tall enough for the cattle to bite. But we need it to rain again. If it doesn’t rain, we’ll lose the grass that we have sprouted. Then it’s going to get a lot tougher because those seeds are no longer there to sprout.

We’ve made a huge effort to shepherd our grass to really protect it. We’ve done such a job of saving our feed resources that we make Ebenezer Scrooge look like a humanitarian. There is no feed left, for the most part, in California, except for people that have really made a conscious effort to take care of it. I have hay left over from last year, and I bought some hay this year. I’m strategically marketing my cattle so that we hold the base herd together, so if it rains and takes off, we’re ready to take off too.

The cattle look good. We’ve got irrigation water for another three weeks. The grass is still growing. We’re irrigating on the dryland where we can. We’re doing what we can to stretch every inch of water to produce the most feed we can until Oct. 14. Then they’re going to cut the irrigation off, and then we’re up against the rainfall.

We need more processors. My processor at the University of Nevada, Reno, called three Fridays ago and said they’re closing their door. That’s where I had my cattle done for the last 12 years. I asked around and put together a California connection, and we’re up and running. But it’s been a real struggle—days and days on the telephone.