Hay, get me out of this drought!

By Dennis Cash*, MSU Animal & Range Sciences Extension Specialist

Spring 2002 has sprung, and recent precipitation has made us all optimistic about the upcoming growing season. Unfortunately, much of Montana remains under drought alert, with low water levels in reservoirs, streams and our topsoil. Many areas have experienced three consecutive dry springs, and this has taken a toll on range condition, as well as pasture and hay production.

April and May precipitation is critical for grass production.  In the sidebar (to the right) are some grazing strategies during and after drought. In short, some over-grazed stands may not fully recover this year, even with abundant moisture. So, you should have some early assessment of forage availability for 2002.  Be proactive - you have a limited time to react and prepare for some emergency forage.

I can't afford $90 hay. Should I be doing more farming?

Yes. $90 hay is like $1.45 calves - maybe you should be selling some! Hopefully, you have done some thoughtful farming this spring. Since 1999, hay production declined in Montana by 20%. In many counties, hay yields were reduced by up to 70% in 2001, so consequently, hay prices were high through the winter. With limited irrigation water in 2002, hay prices are expected to remain strong through 2002 unless conditions improve for an abundant dryland hay crop. New seedings of irrigated alfalfa and grass pastures will increase this spring, but these will not be fully productive until 2003.

Should I plant some new dryland alfalfa?

No (unless April and May are wet).  In much of Montana, low soil moisture make this a poor to plant a new stand of dryland alfalfa or grass.  During our winter meetings with ranchers, we encouraged producers to consider planting cereal forages like hay barley to come out of a forage deficit. These annual forages are less risky in terms of establishment and production costs, plus they may withstand dry conditions.

Should I grow some Horsford barley?

No. For the past 10 years, the MAES research stations have evaluated cereal crops for forage production. They have paid particular attention to awnless species such as oat or spelt, awnless varieties of barley (Haybet, Westford or Horsford), and short-awned varieties of wheat or triticale. A high point of the recent drought in central Montana is that hay barley actually out-produced good stands of well-managed alfalfa or grass in 1999 and 2000 (see Table 1 below). Besides having good yields, the forage quality of hay barley provides for good backgrounding or maintenance diets.

Grow Haybet or Westford. Horsford is about 100 years old. Across 18 recent forage yield trials, Horsford yielded an average of 12 percent (0.25 ton) less hay than Haybet barley. Hay barley seed is in short supply, but if hay is processed for feeding, the awns on feed barley should not be a problem. Barley is typically sown in March or April, but it can be planted for hay until mid-May.

Table 1. Forage yield and quality of second and third-year stands of well-managed alfalfa or perennial grasses compared to annual cereal forages at the Central Ag Research Center in 1999-2001.

What are my other options for emergency grazing?

There are several options, and they should be considered for post-drought conditions, too. Annual forages can overcome a forage deficit in 2002 and could also be used to rest native pastures in the fall or next spring. Many producers planted winter wheat the last two falls for pasture the following spring, and this seven to 10 days of grazing has "saved" their native pastures. Other producers plan to pasture or hay spring wheat, barley, peas, lentils, annual ryegrass, etc. Assuming adequate precipitation, most of these crops will only produce a limited amount (0.2 to 0.5 tons) of forage by early June, but this could be a critical level of forage if native pasture is short. Cautions on grazing lush growth of any cereal crop would be grass tetany or nitrate accumulation, and possible bloat on the legumes.

Some other options for central and eastern Montana are annual warm season forages such as millet, sudangrass or sorghum-sudangrass. These must be planted after the soil temperatures are consistently above 60 degrees. With timely moisture, these forages can produce from three to seven tons. Monitor these crops for nitrate levels. Sudangrass or sorghum can have problems with prussic acid. A trend in the West is to grow warm season annuals on irrigated or dryland ground, then defer them for fall pasture after a killing frost. Another option on irrigated ground is to take one cut of hay, then defer the aftermath for fall pasture. Swath or windrow grazing of these crops limits waste and increases efficiency. A major advantage of annual forages for pasture is that high quality forage can be fed with limited or no machinery costs. If hay or haying costs remain high, more ranchers will be looking at these annual crops.

Should I replace my dryland pasture next fall?

Maybe, but wait and see what precipitation this summer brings. Dormant frost seeding is an effective time to plant native and introduced grass seed. Your ranch plan may dictate that a new pasture goes in this year, but there are some other considerations. Dryland fields are typically summer-fallowed for a year or two prior to planting grass. Depending on your crop sequence in 2000 and 2001, deep soil moisture could be so limited that no net gain in soil moisture would occur in 2002. Further, the moisture deficit has limited any weed control benefits of summer fallow. Be flexible, and consider using an annual forage on at least part of your acreage.

* The opinions expressed here are the author's, and he frequently disagrees with them. For example this drought information most recently appeared in "Is this a drought?" preceding the 1997 crop year, when precipitation was above-normal in much of Montana

Beef: Questions & Answers is a joint project between MSU Extension and the Montana Beef Council. This column informs producers about current consumer education, promotion and research projects funded through the $1 per head checkoff. For more information, contact the Montana Beef Council at (406) 442-5111 or at beefcncl@mt.net

Return to regular view	Text-only	Updated: 08/29/2006