Dealing With Drought Keith VanderVelde UW Extension Marquette County

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1 Keith VanderVelde UW Extension Marquette County

2 Drought Affects: Body Condition Reproductive Performance Weight Gain Feed Availability Feed Prices Out of Pocket Costs Reduced Livestock Prices Forage Species Changes ATTITUDE OF PRODUCER

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4 Cow herd reduction SW & West Affected Most Reduced Heifers Saved

5 Cow herd reduction SE Affected by Drought Midwest Affected by Corn $ Reduced Heifers Saved

6 Have A Written Plan Include the Actions you need to take to deal with reduced rainfall and lack of forage production Keep it Simple and easy to implement

7 Reduce Inventory Early Sell Older Cows Sell heavier feeders Early Wean Calves This reduces pressure on pastures Do this before your neighbor since prices decline rapidly in dry areas where forced inventory reduction occurs

8 Market Stockers Early Reduce by choice Animals still gaining Price is still favorable Buyers attitudes still good Sort off cattle by weight Let current price determine the ones to sell (light vs. heavy Early Wean Calves Reduces Cows Forage Needs Calves more efficient if fed direct Gives you larger window to market calves

9 Plant drought tolerant crops Grasses that excel Perennial Warm Season- Indiangrass, big blue stem, switchgrass Annual Warm Season Grasses Sorghum/sudan, Corn Millets-German, Manta, Pearl and Japanese

10 rage Growth 50 days with 4.5 inches of rain-june 1 st planting Dealing With Drought Japanese Millet German Millet

11 BMR FORAGE SORGHUM Dealing With Drought

12 Piper Dealing Sudangrass With Drought

13 Hybrid Pearl Millet My Favorite No Prussic Acid Can be 2 cut system Great Yield-4-6 ton/acre Cattle Prefer it to alfalfa/orchardgrass hay % Crude Protein Similar to Corn Silage in Net Energy

14 Species (Planted June 2, Cut Aug 6) Tn/acre Piper Sudan 6.8 Corn (110 day RM) 6.1 German Millet 5.4 UW Grazing Composite 4.8 BMR Sorghum-sudan 4.8 Hybrid Pearl Millet 4.8 Milo/Soybean Mix 3.4 Japanese Millet 2.7 Italian Rye Grass XXX 2.3 Oats XXX 1.4 Forage Soybeans(R5) XXX0

15 Big Blue Stem Plant drought tolerant crops Grasses that excel Perennial Warm Season- Indiangrass, big blue stem, switchgrass, little blue stem Annual Warm Season Grasses Sorghum/sudan, Corn Millets-German, Manta, Pearl and Japanese

16 Orchardgrass Plant drought tolerant crops Grasses that excel Perennial Cool Season Species Drought Tolerance Italian Rye Grass Fair Kentucky BlueGrass Fair Orchardgrass Fair Quackgrass Good Reed Canarygrass Good Smooth Brome Fair Tall Fescue Fair Timothy Poor

17 Key Issues In Drought Management Realize Drought is Possible Have a Plan if it Occurs Reduce Inventory of Livestock Lease more pasture Market Stockers Early or Early Wean Use supplemental feed Plant drought tolerant crops Rest Pastures Have a strategy if the drought cycle breaks

18 Rest Pastures We have the tendency to overgraze Pastures should not be grazed below 3 inches If overgrazed very slow recovery Weeds have a chance to dominate More water and wind erosion

19 Have a Plan for Rain Late summer cycle changes Grow Forage for grazing Grow Forage for Winter feed What to Grow UW Research 1993 & 1994

20 Date Species Mean August 1 Buckwheat Sorghum-sudan Annual ryegrass Forage brassica Oat Mean: August 15 Buckwheat Sorghum-sudan Annual ryegrass Forage brassica Oat Mean: September 1 Buckwheat Sorghum-sudan Annual ryegrass Forage brassica Oat Mean: LSD (0.05)*

21 Results Summary Dry Matter Yields Aug 1 and Aug 15 Similar Buckwheat and Sorghum-Sudan affected by early frost All yields affected by limited rainfall (many local producers achieve 6,000 lbs of forage yield with late planted oats Forage Brassica and Oats top yielders

22 Summary Drought is a Manageable Occurrence How You Deal With It Determines Your Financial Success!