Drought Survival Tips for Area Cattle Producers

Summer, 1998 - Agricultural specialists with The Noble Foundation in Ardmore,OK offer some tips to help cattle producers make the best decisions concerning their livestock during times of drought.

In the cattle business, drought is a regular occurrence. However, Chuck Coffey, NF forages specialist, said they are not typically as severe as those seen over the past three years. Rainfall data indicate 1994 was the last "normal" year experienced in the area. After that, 1995 brought a good spring followed by a dry fall; 1996 had a dry spring and summer followed by a wet fall; and 1997 provided a dry summer and fall.

Drought has been defined as slow plant growth when fast growth is expected, or no growth in times of slow growth.

1994-1998 area rainfall compared to 97 year average: 

download 1995-1998 charts as a pdf

"Many of us definitely experienced slow plant growth in April and May and moved to 'no growth' in late May," Coffey said. "From April 1 through May 31, we received less than 15 percent of our expected rainfall for these months. This shortage of rainfall has caused many cattle producers to have insufficient grass for their 'normal' stocking rate, even though some of the local areas received some nice rains recently. This, in turn, puts many of us in an uncomfortable cattle situation."

The good news, he said, is that cattle prices are higher than prices were in 1995-96, and the drought is localized in Southern Oklahoma and Texas.

"However, Southern Oklahoma and Texas contain a large number of cattle," Coffey added. "If we do not see additional significant moisture soon, we could impact the market with excessive sales of livestock and/or see a larger number of stockers moving to feedlots."

About 75 percent of warm season forage is produced by July 15. That means even if July and August should be wetter than normal, forage plants are already beyond their peak growth period. This makes late June and early July an ideal time to monitor forages and make carrying capacity calculations for the rest of the year.

Tips for Cattle Production in Drought
Because droughts should be considered "normal" in the cattle industry, producers should make plans well in advance of their occurrence, Coffey said. Below are a list of strategies to help producers in the long term to avoid crisis in times of drought.

With this in mind, a short term strategy would be to seek out all grass available for lease in the area. If none is available or is too costly or unsatisfactory, look elsewhere, but keep in mind transportation costs. An option may be to send lower quality cows to leased pasture, then sell them after two or three months of grazing. If large numbers of cows start coming to town, the additional transportation and grass lease costs from delaying the sell time might be money well spent. Cattle prices might also be better outside the drought-stricken area.

Early Weaning
When the decision is made to wean suckling calves early, producers are faced with two options, according to Dan Childs, Noble Foundation agricultural economist. Calves can be sold immediately, or producers can retain ownership of the calves and feed them to heavier weights.

The first alternative, to sell at once, is quick, but also can leave economic wounds that take longer to heal, Childs said. Market conditions, feed, and labor availability should be considered for each operation. Projections of profit may also be helpful in deciding whether to keep or sell calves.

In trials completed by animal scientists at Oklahoma State University (Stillwater), calves can be weaned at 6 to 8 weeks of age. Findings indicate the calves eat 3 to 3.5 percent of their body weight. If weaned at 160 pounds and grown to 460 pounds, they would eat about 10 pounds per head a day for the 5 to 6 month feeding period.

Feed conversion is estimated at 4 to 5 pounds per pound of gain. The value of gain between 160 and 460 pounds is generally above 80 cents. During the weaning/growing period interest, death loss and labor is estimated to account for 8 cents of the value of the additional gain. A profit goal of $55 per head will take another 12 cents, leaving 60 cents to pay for feed. It takes 5 pounds of feed to make a pound of gain, making the break-even price of feed $240 a ton. If feed costs less than $240 per ton, the potential profit of keeping and growing an early-weaned calf would be more than the $55 per head initial profit goal. However, if the value of gain is less than 80 cents, then the amount one can pay for feed is reduced. An important item to consider in any retained ownership decision is what the market is paying for the additional gain.

Forage Inventory - An Example
In a typical bermudagrass pasture, it is best not to graze grass shorter than 3 inches, according to Hugh Aljoe, Noble Foundation forages specialist. If bermudagrass height in grazing pastures is 4 inches, 1 inch is grazeable.

There are an estimated 200 pounds (dry matter) of grass per acre inch in a good stand of bermudagrass, Aljoe said. On 150 acres, this represents 30,000 pounds of available forage, or 150 acres times 200 lbs./acre inch. Harvest efficiency under continuous grazing is about 50 percent, meaning only 15,000 pounds of forage will be consumed by the cows. Cows require an average of about 30 pounds of forage dry matter a day. Fifty cows eating 30 pounds of dry matter a day equals 1,500 pounds of total forage consumed daily. The available 15,000 pounds of forage to be consumed by the 50 cows then will last about 10 days. Even considering regrowth potential, the pasture will be at the minimal grazing height within two weeks.

Implementing the drought management strategies listed above, Aljoe said producers might want to sell large calves, dry or open cows, heavy bred cows, and late calvers. In an example 50-cow herd, this might leave 30 head of uniform, productive cows, some with calves at side, with all cows having the best chance of being bred back within a short time.

In an example cattle operation with three uniform-sized bermudagrass pastures and one equal-sized hay field, pastures will be halved, including the hay field, implementing cross-fencing procedures. Gates are closed and cattle are rotated between the eight smaller pastures, with the two hay fields being grazed first, each down to the residual height. This allows grass in the grazing pastures several weeks to recover. Once the grazing pastures have recuperated and the hay field pastures have been grazed to the minimum three inches, the eight pastures/one herd rotation will proceed on a 30-day cycle.