Get a Drought Game Plan for Your Cattle Herd
Management : Cow & Calf
Management : Replacement
Nutrition : Supplements
Drought had a long-reaching influence on the 2022 cattle industry. At the peak, a startling 89% of the United States cattle inventory was impacted by drought, with 46% categorized as severe to exceptional. Half of the cattle stayed in moderate drought, or worse, for the entire year.1
These conditions led to issues like lower cattle performance, poor forage availability, higher input prices and increased cull rates. If drought conditions continue through 2023, having a plan in place can help you weather the storm – or lack thereof.
If you need to reduce your herd numbers, there are a few characteristics to consider. Depending on the timing of your breeding season, pregnancy checking can allow you to remove any open cows or those bred outside your ideal calving window. Cows with a history of producing calves that perform below average are justified for culling. Problem cows can also be moved to the top of your cull list.
Body condition scoring is a valuable tool to assist you in evaluating your current nutrition program, as well as look forward to long term impacts. If a cow is showing signs of subpar nutrition in a drought, it can also have lifelong impacts on her calf and the calf she is carrying in utero.
Aside from reducing overall herd numbers, early weaning is another method to manage drought impacts. When you take the calf off the cow, you are drastically reducing her nutritional requirements and decreasing forage intake. The cow can maintain or improve her condition while you feed the calves to add pounds until they reach the ideal sale weight.
When it starts to get dry and forage quality drops, protein supplementation can help cattle better utilize those low-quality forages. Purina® Accuration® products and Purina® RangeLand® tubs are designed specifically for this scenario. Strategic placement of protein supplements can also influence cattle’s grazing pattern and move them to underutilized parts of the pasture.
Purina® Accuration® Starter is ideal for your early weaned calves. It’s a complete feed with roughage, supporting optimal feed intake and gains, while sparing limited or expensive forages.
Poor water quality can have a negative impact on cattle health and production. Poor palatability of water may cause cattle to limit their consumption, affecting feed intake and ultimately, gains. Drought conditions can also lead to algae bloom and high nitrate and sulfate concentrations, impacting cattle health.
Water sources can be monitored by testing for total dissolved solids (TDS), sulfates and nitrates. Knowing your water quality is always important, but especially during drought when using shallow water sources or sources with a history of quality issues.
Does your cattle nutrition program stack up? Find out with a Proof Pays trial.
These conditions led to issues like lower cattle performance, poor forage availability, higher input prices and increased cull rates. If drought conditions continue through 2023, having a plan in place can help you weather the storm – or lack thereof.
Have a plan
Looking back at those impacted by drought over the last couple of years, generally those who had a plan and started making decisions early on fared better than those with the “wait and see” mindset. Your plan must be tailored to your operation, but one place to start is to think ahead about what you can do if you miss out on spring moisture, or if it starts to get dry later in the summer.Evaluate your resources
It’s important to know what resources you have available to meet your herd’s needs. Comparing the carrying capacity and stocking density of your pastures and evaluating the availability and affordability of stored forages for winter are great starting points. From there, you can set a strategy for making difficult decisions.If you need to reduce your herd numbers, there are a few characteristics to consider. Depending on the timing of your breeding season, pregnancy checking can allow you to remove any open cows or those bred outside your ideal calving window. Cows with a history of producing calves that perform below average are justified for culling. Problem cows can also be moved to the top of your cull list.
Body condition scoring is a valuable tool to assist you in evaluating your current nutrition program, as well as look forward to long term impacts. If a cow is showing signs of subpar nutrition in a drought, it can also have lifelong impacts on her calf and the calf she is carrying in utero.
Aside from reducing overall herd numbers, early weaning is another method to manage drought impacts. When you take the calf off the cow, you are drastically reducing her nutritional requirements and decreasing forage intake. The cow can maintain or improve her condition while you feed the calves to add pounds until they reach the ideal sale weight.
Cattle nutrition strategy
As always, but especially in drought, your nutritional strategy is your largest investment as a cattle producer. During drought, feed prices typically increase, so you want to be as efficient as possible. You’ve got to know your economics. Your Purina representative can help develop a strategy for your operation.When it starts to get dry and forage quality drops, protein supplementation can help cattle better utilize those low-quality forages. Purina® Accuration® products and Purina® RangeLand® tubs are designed specifically for this scenario. Strategic placement of protein supplements can also influence cattle’s grazing pattern and move them to underutilized parts of the pasture.
Purina® Accuration® Starter is ideal for your early weaned calves. It’s a complete feed with roughage, supporting optimal feed intake and gains, while sparing limited or expensive forages.
Water quality
Water is also a vital aspect of your cattle nutrition plan. In drought conditions, you’re likely thinking about the quantity of water available, but often, the quality of your water drops first.Poor water quality can have a negative impact on cattle health and production. Poor palatability of water may cause cattle to limit their consumption, affecting feed intake and ultimately, gains. Drought conditions can also lead to algae bloom and high nitrate and sulfate concentrations, impacting cattle health.
Water sources can be monitored by testing for total dissolved solids (TDS), sulfates and nitrates. Knowing your water quality is always important, but especially during drought when using shallow water sources or sources with a history of quality issues.
Lessons learned from past droughts
- Be proactive, not reactive. Make a plan and stick to it. Drought decisions can be difficult and costly, but they can be less costly the quicker you make them.
- Don’t be afraid to try something different. Early weaning may make you uncomfortable if you’ve never done it, but it has benefits. Even weaning at six months instead of eight can aid your herd during a drought.
- Be aware of long-term impacts. There may be impacts on your cows that don’t show immediately. Pregnancy rates could take a hit the year following a drought. Calves born to cows during drought may suffer from lower production later in life. Pastures not managed well during drought conditions will take time to rebound.
Plan for productivity
Weather struggles are inevitable for most cattle producers. Utilize lessons learned from previous drought-impacted years to set a strategy for the future. Have a plan for dealing with reduced forages, higher feed prices and lower water quality to reduce the impact of drought on your herd’s productivity and your profitability.Does your cattle nutrition program stack up? Find out with a Proof Pays trial.
1 National Drought Mitigation Center. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. https://agindrought.unl.edu/Maps.aspx. Accessed Jan. 5, 2023.
