Resourceful Producers Pivot Through the Uncertainty of Drought

Arguably the hardest part of weathering drought conditions as a cattle producer is the unknown. How long will this last? How severe will it be? Can I keep my herd inventory level? How am I going to feed these cattle? One way to ensure the least amount of damage is to have a solid contingency plan for drought.

Benny Martinez, Market Development Specialist, Corteva Agriscience, is based in Bishop, Texas. Martinez prescribes weed and brush control solutions to producers and retailers across the Southwest and collaborates with partners across the country who do same thing. He’s lived through drought and has seen the effects it can have on cattle, producers and their operations. He’s also watched producers implement nontraditional strategies to aid in survival and recovery of drought.

“You don’t know how hard you’re going to have to graze your pastures or if you’ve stockpiled enough forage. When it finally rains, what’s going to show up? Are your grasses going to recover? Are the weeds going to lower your grass recovery? Or are you going to have to implement a plan to try to help the land along?” Martinez said.

The severity of drought and the effect it has on forages are greatly impacted by intermittent rains or lack thereof. A half-inch of rain here or there can make a world of difference in the way forages are able to recover.

“If you’re not planning for drought, you’re not going to be prepared when it finally hits; you need to develop tactics to help you more effectively react to those challenges.”
— Benny Martinez, Market Development Specialist, Corteva Agriscience

“This spring, I looked at rainfall estimates in some pastures utilizing the LandVisor system, because we have a historical footprint on those pastures for the past five or six years,” Martinez said. “I was looking at rainfall in the last six months in a particular pasture that has just been really devastated. It went into the drought with a good forage base, but it only had around an inch of rain in the last six months. When you go that long without rain, it’s much more devastating to the forage than if you had just at least some intermittent rains in between.”

When drought conditions threaten forage availability, producers scrutinize over feasible herd numbers and stocking rates. They invest a lot of capital and work for years to build up their genetic programs. The last thing they want to do is start over and rebuild a cow herd from scratch.

Here are a few tactics to maintain cattle herds during drought:

1. Cull your herd more stringently than normal.
2. Supplement with commodity feed.
3. Wean calves earlier than usual.
4. Pay to graze cattle in nondrought-affected regions.
5. Move cattle to a feedlot.

“I think the most important thing is to keep an open mind,” Martinez said. “You have to explore all avenues if you’re going to retain your genetics.”

Strategies for Drought-stressed Pastures

No matter the environment, it’s imperative to have a contingency plan for a lack of forages and be prepared to pivot when conditions change. In parts of the country that see drought conditions often, some producers decide to proactively reduce their herd numbers to graze more conservatively every year. Then, if they have excess forages, they retain ownership of their weaned calves for a longer period of time or purchase stocker calves to utilize available grass.

“If you’re not planning for drought, you’re not going to be prepared when it finally hits; you need to develop tactics to help you more effectively react to those challenges,” Martinez said.

Scouting is a tool that is crucial but often underutilized. Understanding how pastures are reacting in real time gives producers a big advantage to maintaining productive forages for cattle and knowing their next move. Drought always leads to an encroachment of weeds and brush.

“By having a regular scouting interval, you can see those trends or identify an encroachment problem,” Martinez said. “You’ll be able to tell if the grass is coming back from seed or from its original root mass, which can alter your management strategy.”

Predrought forage conditions dictate how pastures will respond when rain returns and the optimal pasture management strategies going forward.

“The site that’s not grazed to the ground has the ability to respond to a rain event, because the root system has more root energy and more biomass,” Martinez said. “Less erosion has taken place, and more water infiltration is taking place in a healthier range environment.”

Corteva Agriscience offers Range & Pasture solutions that help producers manage weeds and brush, support forage production, and aid in pasture recovery during drought conditions. Solutions including DuraCor® herbicide, NovaGraz™ herbicide, and Sendero® Powered by LandVisor® advanced brush management help producers make the most of available moisture by promoting productive forage growth. Clean pastures support overall herd performance during challenging conditions, adding to a producer’s bottom line.

Another forage management strategy that is not as widely adopted is keeping extra hay and starting to feed it earlier in the year to relieve pressure on grass and ensure healthier forages going into dry conditions.

“You’re way ahead of the game if you are able to keep additional hay, start feeding early and reduce grazing pressure and the encroachment of other species,” Martinez said. “Then, you don’t have to implement those more-intense programs at the end of the day that are going to cost more time and money.”

Facing the unknown is something cattle producers have adapted to out of necessity and determination. Having a solid pasture management strategy, strategic use of resources and good land stewardship can go a long way toward maintaining a herd through tough drought conditions.

Under normal field conditions, DuraCor® is nonvolatile. DuraCor has no grazing or haying restrictions for any class of livestock, including lactating dairy cows, horses (including lactating mares) and meat animals prior to slaughter. Label precautions apply to forage treated with DuraCor and to manure and urine from animals that have consumed treated forage. DuraCor is not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Consult the label for full details. White clover and annual lespedeza exhibit some initial injury (such as lodging and loss of vigor) but recover. NovaGraz^™ is not registered for sale or use in all states. Sendero^® is not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. LandVisor^® is not available on all states. Always read and follow label directions.