Coming off Early -should I, and what if I do??-
Eric Peterson, University Extension Agent, Sublette CountyIn a year of drought, we need to be careful about balancing the cattle needs with the needs
of your range or pasture. If there is anything that we can agree on in this industry, it is
that cattle producers are very reluctant to starve their cattle. However, in drought
situations, producers often need to fully utilize, without harm, their forage resources and
the inherent ability of their cattle to cope with less than ideal forage resources.
Most years, Wyoming cattle producers are generally lightly stocked. Most of the time the
livestock will tell us when they are ready to move to fresh pasture. The lowered
production of a drought year may cause us to be temporarily overstocked. Since most
normally are understocked, we may not recognize the level of use range can afford, and
we may not have a great feel for when and where the forage limitations can affect cattle
performance.
In drought, forage production is decreased dramatically. Reductions are less on ranges in
good and excellent ecological condition. Ability of perennial plants to recover after
drought is closely related to their vigor before and during the drought. Excessive grazing
(more than
60 percent of current year's growth) decreases the ability of some plants to recover.
Moderate use (25 to 55 percent) does not seem to affect the recovery rate. After range
grasses (particularly cool season grasses) have set seed they become less affected by
high grazing use. After grasses reach dormancy, grazing use can be pushed even
higher with negligible impact. Monitoring the amount of use on rangeland is a relatively
simple procedure that producers can quickly learn and employ. Close observation of
the utilization of the pasture is just as important as closely monitoring the condition of
the cattle.
Though it may be true that range can afford more use than we are accustomed to taking
from it, the quality and quantity of the animal diet may not support an acceptable level of
animal performance. A producer does himself no favors by sacrificing animal
performance or condition in order to avoid making tough decisions. There is no arguing
that when the feed is gone, the cattle must go somewhere else. It is critical that cows
not degrade into or below condition score 4, or productive performance will suffer in the
year to follow.
When you must come off of normal summer range early, there are many options to
consider. To summarize the options, there are various herd reductions strategies, and
supplemental or alternate feeding strategies. Most producers are intensely interested in
holding the cow herd together. Considerable effort and pride is wrapped up in a herd’s
genetics. There are, however, significant economic costs to purchasing the feed
resources to keep the cow herd together. Most will look into early marketing of calves or
yearlings; two or three year olds which have higher nutritional requirements, or flawed or
low producing cows which can be justifiably culled.
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