Drought management can be quite tricky at best. I can safely say that I have dropped the ball on this one for sure. I grazed out the pastures until there was nothing left to graze. Consequently, we started feeding hay in August the last two years. This is quite expensive, as you can guess. So, this information is quite appealing to me. And exciting, as well, when considering applying this new knowledge.
In his book "Quality Pasture", Alan Nation says, "...the second year after starting a MiG program, there will be a drought."
On our farm, I have been interested in this style of management for some time. We had not always had the livestock to go with it, but we knew they were in our future. Now that we have had livestock for a few years, I can safely say that I had psuedo managed our pastures. Given what I have learned in this book, I can now safely say that I was missing a bunch. You see, it is more than just rotating your stock. What a learning curve I've been on!
Back to droughts. It is absolutely necessary to have a drought plan before a drought. You ask if I have a plan for drought? Why, no! That's whay I'm reading this book.
Semi arid parts of the country can expirience droughts for several years. These areas tend to be more suitable to sheep, goats and seasonal beef. They are not very good for brood cows.
After the weather we've been getting here in Missoiuri, I have been dreading the mud and winter weather. Mr. Nation says that is a mistake. Winter droughts are much more serious than summer one's, because they prevent groundwater recharge and resevoir filling and can cause a severe shortfall of Spring pasture re-growth. (Hmmm, I didn't know that.) This shortfall in the Spring can upset or ruin a sound MiG plan. So, there is a bright side to this junk we've been getting. Oh, sorry. It is not junk, but glorious winter rain and snow. (Along with a bunch of tornadoes and flooding and freezing rain, eeek!)
Droughty pastures are higher in dry matter than normal pasture, hence, a little grass goes further. Pastures that are continuously grazed and not managed are going to have short root systems and be low in water-holding organic matter. This will make your pasture very susceptible to drought, even a mild one. As we learn to manage the grazing effectively, the root system will lengthen and the organic matter will increase thereby creating a more and more drought tollerant pasture. Fall stockpilling will promote deep roots to grow on cool season grasses.
Young, rapidly growing plants make the best use of the soil's water reserves. Dead leaves hinder the growth of plants. Grazing should be done to a 1 inch residual in the winter dormant season. (Boy! I dropped the ball there!) Any surplus grass should be taken off in hay or silage for drought reserve. From that point, after your reserves have been put up, try to stock as much livestock as the pastures can handle to keep overhead costs to a minimum. (We don't own any machinery here, so haying and silage are difficult for us.)
One thing to keep in mind is that most farmers tend to save their reseves for winter. I may need to rethink that, myself. These reserves are meant for shortages whenever they occur, summer included. Feed out the hay in order to avoid overgrazing the pastures. By keeping leafy area on the plant, regrowth will be rapid when rain does come. Bare ground should be avoided as this causes a microbial film to develope and subsequent smaller rainfall will not be effective.
(If you would like to learn more on this subject, may I suggest purchaseing Alan Nations book, "Quality Pasture." Also, click on the link to the right and visit the Stockman GrassFarmer's website.)
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