LITTLE ROCK — Drought has put its grip on nearly 80 percent of Arkansas and the state’s ranchers are having to make decisions to handle rapidly dwindling amounts of forage for their cattle.
The U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday showed the 79.83 percent of the state with some drought rating.
Severe drought appeared in 2.19 percent of the state.
“I haven’t heard of any water problems yet.” John Jennings, extension forage specialist for the Division of Agriculture, said that even with the scattered showers of the last few days, “pasture recovery will require more than a few rain showers due to the dry soil profile and continued high temperatures.” Ranchers will need to make management decisions quickly during drought to maintain enough forage to feed the herd.
Manage it like standing hay and feed it a few acres at a time to make it last as long as possible.” • Rotational grazing is a good drought management tool.
Rotating pastures during drought conditions can help protect the pastures that will be needed for summer production.
• Feeding hay and limit grazing during dry weather can stretch available forage on drought-stressed pastures.
This practice may be detrimental to that pasture, but it helps protect forage in other pastures that will needed for later grazing.
Where pastures are grazed down to the soil and ranchers are feeding hay, “management strategies must focus on drought recovery.” Don Hubbell, head of the Livestock and Forestry Station in Batesville, said now “is also a good time for producers to be thinking about stockpiling fescue and bermudagrass for winter feeding.
12:11 3:39 For more information on managing during drought, visit https://www.uaex.edu/publications/pdf/mp530.pdf and download or read “Drought Management and Recovery in Livestock Systems.” For more information about cattle and forage production, visit www.uaex.edu or contact your county extension office.