Last fall and this winter have been dry, leaving most parts of the state in some level of drought. We are a few weeks away from another growing season and who knows how much moisture lies ahead. Today, I’ll suggest some ways you can limit the forage problems drought could cause.
Drought is likely to be a problem again this summer, at least somewhere. Because hay can be costly when pastures are short, we need to consider ways to minimize damages if we receive less than average rainfall. Fortunately, early spring is a time you can take action that can minimize some of drought’s problems. (Above photo is courtesy of University of Nebraska-Lincoln.)
For starters, prepare a strategy for using any remaining hay. One of the better options is to feed hay a bit longer into spring before turning cows out to permanent pasture. I know this action is exactly opposite of my usual recommendation to graze more and feed less hay.
But allowing pastures to accumulate a bit more growth before grazing begins will provide more total grazable forage if drought prevents much regrowth later on. Leftover hay also can be used later during the grazing season to give pastures more time to recover between grazings.
Another strategy is planting annual forages for pasture or hay. Some excellent choices are oats planted as early as possible or summer annual grasses like sudangrass, sorghum-sudan hybrids and pearl millet planted once soils are good and warm.
Late May or early June usually is best for these grasses. So, reserve some ground now for these drought-insurance grasses, before you plant everything to corn, beans and other crops. And don’t forget about possibly planting these grasses or even some fall cover crop forages into wheat stubble as a double crop after harvest.
If the rains don’t come, planning and acting now to reduce potential forage losses from drought will pay big dividends.
Jerry Volesky is with the Center for Grassland Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
