BY KATIE NAVARRA
Producers across multiple regions of the U.S. are heading into a growing season defined by drought conditions, forcing many farmers and ranchers to rethink forage strategies, irrigation plans and long-term operational resilience.
For livestock producers, the question becomes, “How do we maintain forage when water is limited, and traditional crops may not be viable?”
Mitch Stephenson, PhD, Nebraska Extension rangeland management specialist in Scottsbluff, described current conditions as “emergency room” drought management. In years like this, he said, proactive planning and flexibility are essential.
Beef producers are already discussing which grazing systems and annual forage crops are best suited for water-deficit conditions. Many livestock operations that typically rely on irrigated alfalfa to feed their herds and sell for revenue anticipate lower yields if their fields don’t receive enough water. Other forage crops are also likely to be impacted.
“Annual forages are going to be important in years like this,” he said. “The water might not be there for Western Nebraska farmers to get sugar beets, dry edible beans or even corn started, but we might have enough water for a later-season annual forage.”
For example, growers are considering warm-season species such as sorghum-Sudan grass and millet, which they can plant in June. These forage species require less water and still produce livestock feed.
“We might have enough water that we could do a later-season annual forages, like hay millets, and other warm-season crops that we can get in the ground in June. Even with less water available through rain or irrigation, you would be able to get lower-quality forages that could be marketable as hay for cattle,” he explained.
In drought years, that hay can be both scarce and valuable. Annual forages can be grazed directly, harvested as hay or silage, or managed through lower-cost approaches such as swath grazing.
“A lot of folks have been swath grazing, which essentially means you swath cut it, and then you leave it in the row, and then you’re able to hold on to that quality essentially without the added cost of baling,” he said. “Then you can go back out in the fall and winter and graze on that. The quality tends to hold up well in a swath.”
He cautioned producers to be aware of prussic acid and nitrate issues in certain forage species, especially during frost, and to manage harvest height or blend feeds accordingly. Still, he sees annual forages as a tool for managing drought conditions while improving long-term resilience.
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