The 75 percent stocking rate also reduces need to sell stock at a time when many other producers are likely selling their stock.

In the good years
During years of good forage production, use stocker calves as flex-grazers to use the extra available forage. These calves may come from your own herd or be purchased.

During good forage production years, consider providing pasture to other producers looking for additional forage and charge on the amount of gain or on a per-head per-month basis.

Extra forage may also be harvested and conserved as hay or sold to local hay producers who wish to harvest more acreage.

Leave some green
Don’t graze forages to the roots. Removing most or all green photosynthetic material (leaves) deprives the plant of its ability to convert sunlight into carbohydrates/energy vital to plant growth.

Decreased carbohydrate production results in decreased root production, reducing the plant’s ability to get necessary moisture and nutrients from the soil.

The relationship between leaves and roots is always critical and even more so during periods of moisture stress. It is important adequate levels of forage residue be left in the pasture.

This adequate residue also reduces soil moisture evaporation. It allows for better infiltration of any precipitation, rather than being lost as overland flow from the site.

For bermudagrass, the target residue height should probably be no less than four inches; other species will differ depending upon their growth habits. Sod-forming grasses may generally be grazed shorter than bunch grasses, and some tall grass species shouldn’t be grazed shorter than eight to 10 inches.

It is important to note that close grazing usually occurs during drought, but this same close grazing impairs forage recovery from drought.

Stretch limited hay
Drought makes hay supplies short and high priced. Purchase emergency supplies of hay early in the season when prices are typically lower. Waiting until the need for hay becomes apparent only increases feeding costs.

To stretch limited hay supplies, use corn or other plant by-products as substitutes. Remember, however, forage roughage should be 50 percent of the diet. Corn will substitute for good quality hay typically at a ratio of one pound of corn replacing 2.25 pounds of hay.

Feeding your way out of drought is expensive and may not be economically viable. Don’t be afraid to sell cattle when the need arises!

Fertilize or not to fertilize?
The cost of fertilizer has increased dramatically, thus, the first inclination of forage and forage-based livestock producers is to withhold fertilizer during drought. This is seldom wise.

Maintaining proper soil nutrient status helps plants tolerate and survive drought better. While nitrogen is generally the most limiting factor to plant production behind moisture, phosphorus is critically important for root development and overall vigor. Potassium is essential for plant production and important in water use relations.

Plants receiving adequate phosphorus and potassium tolerate drought better than plants that are nutritionally stressed.

A well-balanced fertilization program helps plants survive drought better and enables drought-stressed plants to recover more rapidly after drought has ended.

If fertilizer has already been applied, but there hasn’t been significant precipitation, the fertilizer is still in the upper soil profile. With the exception of urea as a nitrogen source, which volatilizes as ammonia gas into the atmosphere under certain conditions, the fertilizer investment in the pasture program won’t be wasted. When precipitation does occur, the plant will re-initiate growth and uptake of fertilizer nutrients occurs.

If fertilizer hasn’t been applied, the tendency of many producers is to “wait and see” if there’s a break in the dry weather. This strategy may appear to reduce financial risk, but you may miss the first good precipitation event. When it becomes apparent rain is on its way, many producers request fertilizer at the same time and the fertilizer dealers may not be able to service all the demand.

It is generally better to have fertilizer in the field waiting on precipitation than to withhold fertilizer.

Some producers actually wait until after the first precipitation event to assume drought is over and apply fertilizer. These “two-rain” producers need one rain to motivate them to action and then a second rain to actually move the fertilizer into the soil. Unfortunately, in many instances, the second rain doesn’t come for a long period. Pay attention to weather forecasts. Make every attempt to get fertilizer in the field before that first rain.

This series in the Rancher’s Management Guide is provided by the Texas Beef Partnership in Extension program and program sponsors.